- Izanagi and Death -
As Death scrambled to help Izanagi, Izanagi feigned fading in and out of consciousness. Izanagi was currently experiencing a severe case of déjà vu. Izanagi didn't have a photographic memory of every path he had seen but was often afflicted by déjà vu when experiencing certain moments.
'Impossible,' Izanagi thought. 'If this is the true path, then Izanami has a one-in-thirty chance.'
Death picked up Izanagi's spear and tried to use healing magic to no avail. The spear wasn't responding to Death.
'I have to hurry,' Izanagi thought.
- Lucifer, Peter, Izanami, Yvere, Devil -
A stream of yokai was running out of the village as Izanami struck Peter's chest with her palm, launching Peter backward. Lucifer caught Peter, sliding a little as he did. Lucifer noticed all the yokai leaving and gritted his teeth. Izanami's eyes went from Lucifer's chest to Yvere as she readied herself to move again.
"WHY?!" Lucifer shouted with bitter anger that startled Izanami. "WHY CAN'T YOU, OR WHOEVER THE FUCK IT IS YOU WORK FOR, LEAVE ME BE?!" he shook with rage as his eyes went from Yvere back to Izanami.
Lucifer saw his good arm start to turn red as Devil's laughing got louder in his head. Lucifer closed his eyes and dug his fingers into the charred skin on his burnt arm. The pain made Lucifer's eyes shoot open as he grunted with pain. The red stopped spreading on his hand.
'Fuck you,' Lucifer said to Devil in his mind. 'I'd rather die than give you more control than you already have.'
Devil mocked, 'I hope it's worth their lives,' He gestured to Yvere and Peter.
"Five minutes, sun's rapture, " Lucifer said to Peter.
Peter didn't question Lucifer. He tossed his sword into his other hand and held it up horizontally, pointing the tip at Izanami. He let out a deep breath and pictured a man in his mind with sable skin.
'Just because you can't land a hit doesn't mean the hit loses lethality,' The man's deep voice joked in Peter's mind.
Izanami shot toward Yvere. Peter conjured a small flame in his left hand and ignited his sword. Peter used a concentrated blast of flame to send himself forward with enough increased momentum to catch Izanami before she made it to Yvere. Izanami ducked under Peter's initial sword swing.
"Luc...ifer," Yvere coughed as she dragged herself up.
Peter's sword swings were a dance of flames as he continuously struck against Izanami's right gauntlet. Even though Peter's plan was to intentionally stall for Lucifer, he was quickly realizing how effectively Izanami was shutting down his offense. Yvere healed herself and stumbled over to Lucifer.
"Wrong target," Peter said as his sword skidded down the side of Izanami's right gauntlet.
Lucifer was creating a blue ring of fire in his good hand that repeated a cycle of shrinking and then growing. Yvere put her hand on Lucifer's shoulder and healed his charred arm slowly.
"What attack is that?" Yvere questioned.
"Just stay with Peter when I use it," Lucifer responded.
Peter was being driven back by Izanami. It wasn't a difference in strength but technique. Izanami had been slowly gaining ground on Peter with every exchange. Peter's heartbeat quickened as he felt Izanami's hand tear the skin on his cheek. Peter choked down his fear and switched to an even more defensive plan.
"Wrong choice," Izanami taunted.
Izanami took advantage of the momentary loss of aggression on Peter's part. Her strikes grew faster and sharper. Her left hand shot toward Peter's sword.
'I can still cut it if she-' Peter's thoughts stopped as he felt Izanami's kick sweep his legs from under him.
Peter's breathing stopped as he saw the image of Izanami standing over his now toppling body, her right hand rapidly approaching the left side of his chest. Peter knew Izanami was aiming for his heart and there was nothing he could do at that moment to stop her. Yvere attempted to tackle Izanami, saving Peter.
Izanami threw Yvere off to the side. Peter quickly launched himself upward with fire and ran at Izanami. Izanami placed her left hand under her right gauntlet. As Peter's sword was about to connect with Izanami's gauntlet, Izanami blasted her right arm with wind, deflecting the sword strike with enough force to nearly knock the sword out of Peter's hand.
"I'll drag you to the void with me before I let you take their lives," Lucifer said under his breath as he started to move toward Izanami.
Lucifer burnt arm had only been partially healed by Yvere. Lucifer ignored his pain and conjured his wings.
'How much power could you possibly be willing to use?' Izanami thought to herself as she drove her elbow into Yvere's nose.
Izanami was easily handling both Peter and Yvere, despite the two's increased strength. Peter's breathing was ragged as he tried his best to find any kind of opening. Yvere felt useless against Izanami with every failed attempt to land a hit. The three noticed the blue ring of fire that was growing in size over their heads. Lucifer was just barely under the electric orbs as he used his attack.
'He won't use whatever that is as long as I stay close to these two,' Izanami thought confidently.
Yvere moved to Peter's side. The black on Peter's arms faded as he backstepped with Yvere and whistled.
'He wouldn't?' Izanami questioned.
'What's one arm compared to a life,' Peter tried to reassure himself.
Izanami's eyes widened as she saw the middle of the blue ring of fire fill. The blue ring had expanded to the point of covering most of the village. The circle of blue fire shot downward as a curtain, engulfing everything in a solid mass of blue flames. Peter held his sword up and crouched down with Yvere.
Peter did his best to hide his pain as his arm was incinerated. His fingers dug into Yvere's side as the flames weaved around the two's bodies.
Lucifer cut the attack off early. Despite this, the damage caused was massive. Almost every hut in the village was now a ruined mess of char, while a deep black scorch mark covered the smoldering ground. Lucifer landed by Peter and Yvere.
"Quickly!" Lucifer held out his good arm.
Lucifer saw Izanami, still alive and only moderately burned, out of the corner of his eye. Yvere bit down onto Lucifer's arm and healed him as quickly as she could, while slowly healing Peter.
'I'd be dead if he hadn't stopped that when he did,' Izanami took a breath.
"I'm sorry, Peter," Lucifer said softly. "You suffered that for nothing."
"Luce," Peter grunted with pain as his arm was restored. "I can still fight."
"No," Lucifer disagreed. "Take Yvere and go. If I lose, then Death can avenge me."
Izanami could just barely hear what Lucifer was saying. She was hesitant to attack.
"You're tapped," Lucifer said matter-of-factly. "Even if you weren't, it's clear that she has no plans on sparing you two if you continue to fight her with me."
Yvere coughed up blood on Lucifer's arm and released her bite before she was able to finish healing Peter. Peter stood up and rotated his mostly-healed arm.
"Lucifer," Peter said, "I want ya to know, that I am thankful to ya for everythin'."
"Peter-"
Peter picked up his sword. "We're family, to the end."
"Stay behind me and strike the moment you see an opening," Lucifer relucted.
Izanami sighed as she stomped her foot onto the ground and once again launched toward the three. Lucifer hadn't liked his chances before learning of Izanami's hidden ability, so now it felt hopeless as he went through his options. Lucifer wasn't sure if it was his best option but it was the only one he could reasonably think of in the amount of time he had.
Lucifer pointed his right palm at Izanami and shot a jet of blue flames out with as much force as he could manage. Izanami approached in a serpentine pattern, deflecting Lucifer's flames with wind as she approached. Lucifer rotated his wrist, tightening his flame. The concentrated heat was powerful, however, Lucifer wasn't able to keep it on Izanami for long.
Izanami was finally within striking distance of Lucifer. To Izanami's surprise, Lucifer took a step forward. Izanami didn't hesitate, sure in herself that she could counter whatever it was Lucifer was planning. As Izanami's right hand shot for Lucifer's eyes, Izanami felt the tip of Peter's sword hit her left eye. Izanami immediately shot herself back before Peter's sword could stab deeper.
Izanami couldn't believe what she was seeing through her right eye. Peter's sword was cleanly through Lucifer's chest.
"Left eye," Lucifer informed as the sword was quickly pulled out of his body.
Yvere healed Lucifer's wound and whispered. "I can't handle any more blood. That cough happened because I felt like I was drowning."
Izanami couldn't believe the situation she was in. The information she had gathered seemed to be working against her; Lucifer and his team's willingness to damage each other had caught her completely off guard.
'No point in continuing to save this,' Izanami thought.
Lucifer noticed the black reappearing on Peter's arms. "How do you have enough mana for that?"
"What?" Peter sounded confused as he looked down at his arms. "I didn't activate my contract?" he did one quick swing with his sword to test his strength. "It's...It's the full activation."
The three didn't know what to make of Peter's situation but they didn't question it further.
"I'll take the blind side," Peter moved to Lucifer's left.
Lucifer and Peter were slow to approach Izanami. The two weren't overly confident that the loss of Izanami's right eye, or that Peter's contract suddenly reactivating, would be enough.
Izanami clapped her hands together. "At least he's not here to see it," Her flesh started to darken and rot.