Yasaka caused unprecedented destruction; a single one of her paws destroyed hundreds of them. But those skeletons would reassemble and crawl up her body.
And it wasn't just skeletons; Yasaka met her foe.
*BOOOMMMM!!!*
Her tails blocked an incoming fist, and the shock alone blasted hundreds of undead; with one of her sparing tails, she wrapped one of the golem's legs and lifted him up, slamming him harshly against the clearing, creating massive destruction.
"Gargantua!" Cocytus screamed, still engaged against the hideous Hasshaku-sama in a battle where he seemed to have the advantage, albeit ever so slightly.
"To shout and get distracted like that, you must be looking down on me, Cocytus!".
Kuu's body was bloodied and filled with wounds, and Cocytus wasn't any better. He was no doubt the hardest opponent she had ever faced, figuratively. His skin wasn't just ice; it was also some strong mineral. Her claws couldn't pierce him, but she could still deal crushing damage with her fist.
Kuu rose up her hand, flapping two dark wings. Her full Youkai form towered over the titanic Cocytus, who exuded an icy aura to freeze even the floor around him.
She manifested an ominous vortex of darkness that she threw at Cocytus; having already received some of those, the latter knew better than to take them on; that wasn't an attack; it was a wicked strategy.
The vortex of darkness expanded and chased after him; he was big but slow. Once again, he got trapped inside the vortex where his movement speed got drastically de-buffed.
Hasshaku-sama knew she had a disadvantage in the physical department, but she had another strategy; even a titan like him had a weak spot.
To the side, she looked at her master fighting, Yasaka fighting, and even Azrael getting jumped by the maids.
'I'm also his servant!'
She was quite proud of her new reality and identity after thousands of years of infamy. It was like being chosen as a champion of her world to fight for the sake of a higher being.
To her, he was a higher being.
'I refuse to be any weaker!'.
*WHOOOSH!*
Her wings flapped, and she kicked the soil, obliterating and shooting at Cocytus, claws in hand with an ever-expanding aura of darkness covering her whole body from outside to inside.
She bit her lips and groaned when the darkness was injected into her body like a drug; her veins popped up in darkness, and her muscles bulked up.
She closed the distance between her and Cocytus in a blink. The titan, engulfed in a storm of darkness, could only guard up with his halberd and prepare for the onslaught that was to come.
They exchanged strikes a few times; his Halberd sliced down, and Hasshaku-sama grunted; a gnashing cut pierced across her chest, drawing humongous amounts of blood, but she didn't give up just yet.
"I die... for Nazarick!"
Cocytus screamed, prepared to give her the finishing touch; even if he knew they wouldn't be victorious today, he would rejoice in the fact that at least one of their foes would perish. Alas, that wasn't everything Kuu had in her arsenal.
Preparations were finished.
"Ugh! Your skin is tough, but what about your soul!?"
*BAANG!*
She stepped harshly on the ground in front of Cocytus, who looked at her, confused by her abrupt stop; he was already planning a counterattack.
"What are you-"
A white and black bubble engulfed both of them, and Cocytus felt dizzy suddenly. Two trigram stars manifested in Hasshaku-sama's bulked-up hands in darkness. She wasn't only an expert in her innate abilities as a Youkai.
She was also an expert in Senjutsu and Touki, the art of strengthening the body throughout the spirit.
Something Cocytus knew absolutely nothing about and he experienced it with his flesh and soul.
*BAANGGG!!*
Her strike, like a merciless spear, pierced his body and yet didn't do a single bit of damage to his diamond-like skin, but instead, pierced his soul like it was a thin paper. Even Hasshaku-sama was shocked by how feeble his soul was.
Cocytus' eyes gasped, struck in place with her spiritual darkness hand piercing his very soul. Recalling the Supreme Beings who brought him to life.
"How unexpected, your soul is so weak... as if you were born yesterday. In any case, don't think this is over".
*BAAANGG!!*
She pierced his skull next, sliced his spiritual arms, and split his body in half. The ancient Youkai relentlessly massacred his soul with a broad smile, licking her hands and marvelling at the taste. In any case, her master only wanted the body... he never said anything about the soul.
Thus, she lunged at him and devoured the infant soul chunk by chunk like a beast who hadn't eaten in a long time.
By the time she finished, the black and white bubble retracted, and Cocytus collapsed... an empty husk without a soul, just like her master wanted.
After having her treated, Kuu fell on her knees, wounds and scars all over her body, a massive cut that went from her neck all the way to her right tight, spewing so much blood that she didn't feel optimistic. Her regeneration kicked in, but it didn't look like it would be enough.
In her mind, the only moments that she went through, from her thousands of years of life, were those she spent with him. How grateful she was that her life turned over, and how much she was looking forward to the future.
How angry she felt that such a future was now being denied to her.
"Master... a-at least let me say thank you... b-before" She collapsed, looking at the fight in the distance with a numbing vision; that's when she heard her in all her apathetic self.
"Stop being so melodramatic, Kuu-chan. I'm here".
"..."
A voice entered her ears, and someone landed in front of her; a woman with long blonde hair knelt down and took her into her arms.
"T-Tsunade...? What are you doing here?" Kuu didn't even understand what was going on. Black lines manifested in the medical nin's face as she pressed her palm on Hasshaku-sama's wound, and bright energy shone up, overshadowing even the sun.
It only took three seconds.
"Tsunade-sama, the results are greater than anticipated. It seems the Sun Energy is quite prominent in this world" A slug crawled up the sannin's body, Kuu was still confused but feeling better by the millisecond every time one of her wounds disappeared.
"Save the processing time, Katsuyu. W-Who would have thought? Even blood doesn't scare me any more, all thanks to him".
With her body completely healed, Tsunade dropped Hasshaku-sama like she was a bag of rotten potatoes.
"Hey! You're rude!".
"You're healed up now, so go ahead and stand up instead of saying stupid farewell monologues", Tsunade sighed, only to get picked up and lifted by Kuu, whose forehead popped a few veins in irritation.
"Why the fuck are you here, huh?! D-Don't tell me you planned to stay-"
Tsunade sighed again and grasped Kuu's wrist, fiercely flushing her away with a strength that shocked the Youkai. Its grasp was even stronger than Cocytus'!
"Is that how you show gratitude? Now is not the time for that, so go help Azrael".
"..."
Nothing went as planned; even Tsunade groaned in anxiety and bit her nails.
'I wasn't supposed to appear yet. It should have been after Yasaka and Kuu-chan left so I could stay with Ray alone. But Azrael is here too. Ugh, all I wanted was some holidays. Why is there a war here, too? I'm going to have Ray massage me after this'.
She looked at her own palm, still imbued in light and smiled, 'I have become so much better... I'll cling to this new power... and to him'.
*POOF!*
And just like that... she disappeared in a cloud of smoke as if she had never been there.