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[SirAston]

"Not as fast as Mishima. Weak. Give me a real challenge!"

"I'll give you one!"

Yui, who followed Saya wordlessly so far, trying to keep up with the chaos of the situation, entered the strange realm with the others, having instinctively called out Marc'heg Gwer the moment she decided to step into the impromtu entrance.
The moment she saw Futaba getting kidnapped by the most horrible Kaijin mask she has ever seen, she knew: Being in the background was a position she could no longer afford.

Heavy stomps of steel boots echoed through the realm.

"Everyone, listen! Speed is meaningless if he can't dodge in any direction."
"Create a hallway of fists and fury and I'll show him a real dead end!"

Marc'heg Gwer's axe is raised and she walked straight towards Astras. Even if he would make attacks from afar, she is fully willing to continue walking towards him no matter what. Right now, she was like one of those prominent monsters in horror media. Maybe slow, but implacable in her chase. Fully focused on not giving in. However, her ultimate goal is not to destroy Astras, but to force his hand so they could maybe get closer to Futaba and the kidnapper.
And what better way to achieve that than making him feel like the enemy needs a pawn, or a hostage, to hide behind? Don't they all crumble when faced with something they cannot alter with tactics of fear and dominance?

All in.

"Kurmala... Parmala... Kurmala... Parmala..."

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Shiro's luminous blade slams downwards, Andras not fast enough to dodge...

...but definitely fast enough to counter.

The blade slams into the masked Majin. While not possessing the qualities of real steel, the blade embeds itself with more sizzling than piercing whatever flesh Kaijin were made out of. The blade embeds itself in his shoulder, just long enough for the Majin to smash a ice-encrusted foot into Shiro's chest, sending her backwards along with her sword.

Mildred's fist connects with his jaw, throwing the demon aside like a ragdoll. He rolls his head, cracking his knuckles. Jin, Akihiko and the others begin joining in as Yui advances on him.

He throws back his head, laughing.

"Finally! Now you people get it! The thrill of the fight....the pulse of battle. Not some idiot wasting all his power to save his dying girlfriend! Not trying to seek justice! Killing or being killed! A playground for demons to do as they please!"

He cracks his knuckles, staring around at all of the opponents he'd get to face.

"Come one, come all! Give me what I've been craving! Entertain me, if you even can-"

Then, a loud, agonized scream rings out across the Domain.

Yagami's.

And everything turns white.
As Mori abandons Kanade, he senses something has gone horribly, terribly wrong.

The crowd around them has begun scattering with screams. Mori's eyes are drawn to the side of the road he'd come from. It was a sidewalk, next to the walls of one side of Hermelin. A light blue crack had torn itself open on the wall, nothing visible within save what appeared to be the deepest, darkest blue, reminiscent of the sea's depths.

From within, formless shadows tore themselves out of the shadows. Onibi, he sensed, but of whom? Yagami's? Someone else's?

No matter. Kanade was already on her feet.
"There are three people in that Domain. Any one of them could be the Akuma. We need to get in, now."
When the light fades, the group finds themselves standing....at what appears to be the bottom of the ocean.

The water around them, despite it warping their sight, does not have the weight or indeed the coolness of water. The light refracts, but aside from that, it feels exactly as you were standing on the surface.

The area you're standing in is a clearing, surrounded by walls of coral and rock. Beneath your feet, wet sand fills the clearing. Above you, light from a distant surface shines down upon you with the strength and color of pale moonlight.

In the distance, to your left, you can hear faint sobbing.

Akihiko groans.
"...he got away again. Damn it! And now Mori and Scathach are out of the fight... Saya, we're in a Domain, right?"
Saya nods, the starfield in her helmet whirring as she faces towards the direction of the sobbing.
"We are. I'm picking up Yagami from this direction. I can pick up Shinomiya too, from the opposite direction. And I don't know where Nanjou is, but he has to be somewhere in here."
"Sugiura and I'll grab Shinomiya, if anyone wants to come with us. We'll see if we can find Nanjou."

Tadano joins in, nodding enthusiastically.
"I'll come help with Yagami!"
"Alright, then I'll go track down Yagami."

[SeriousConcentrate]

"All I heard is that someone needs saving. I'm going to find whoever that is and I'm going to protect them for as long as they need it."

Without waiting, Mildred started heading toward the sound of the sobbing.

[SirAston]

"We'll save all of them, Mildred. The only important thing is whom to save right now, and I believe the answer is obvious for the majority here. As long as everyone gets covered by some, that's fine for me."

As Yui followed Mildred, she noticed that she's slowly but surely succumbing to the chaos within her once more.
Marc'heg Gwer was talking to her once more.

Spoiler: The Inner Dialogue (click to show/hide)

"Close."
"..."
"A few seconds longer and your killer focus on that guy would have given me an opening to discard you. Stupid scream."
"I was not doing it to kill him. I was doing it to push him into a corner."
"Oh, I forgot your expertise: Justifications."
"Not now."
"Getting swept up by the flow, doing whatever feels right to give yourself a reason to belong somewhere."
"Not. Now."
"Even now, aren't you going for Yagami instead of someone else not because of her scream, but because you are so far away from being a functioning human that parasocial interaction is peak endorphines for you, fangirl?"
"... ... What are you aiming for?"
"Oho... No rage, no denial, no fear. And yet also no acceptance."
"I've been an Afternoon fangirl. But don't forget, I also have Hisa-chan and Morimoto-chan in life. I can have real friendships."
"So two birds with one stone, befriending the cute idol for real by becoming her knight in shining armor?"
"I'll be everybody's knight in shining armor. Because helping people simply feels right for me. I don't need more reason to be here."
"..."
"And I'll be your knight in shining armor too, Marc'heg Gwer."
"... Compassion is lethal, too."
"Huh?"

And like a jolt of static release, Yui snapped back into the situation at hand. Her steps became more sluggish for a few seconds. Yet, she continued to run without hesitation.

[Smoke Mirrors]

Well, at least he didn't have to scour the whole city for her.

Mori didn't waste any time, even the time it would have taken Mishima to transform, as he picked her up and ran to the domain.


"Three people... one is almost certainly Jack, but this isn't his domain. That leaves Yagami and one other." he thought as he moved "Yagami said she didn't recall anything resembling an akuma seed being implanted in her, but it could have happened without her knowledge, or it could be the unknown third party. Regardless, my duty remains the same, protect Yagami, rescue the Akuma, stop Andras."

With those thoughts in mind, he dove in.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Kanade and Mori step through the Domain door and-
-they find themselves at the bottom of the ocean.

Somewhere far beyond the surface, a sickly pale light shines through the water, like moonlight but wrong. Though the atmosphere feels cool, damp and thicker than normal air, breathing and movement are unimpaired. Whatever this substance in the Domain is, it isn't water. The ground beneath them comprises wet sand, rocks and dead seaweed. In the distance, you can feel the presence of the other Kaijin.

Towards you, you can see someone sprinting.

[Smoke Mirrors]

Deep ocean and the pale light coming from above... Mori could feel his heartbeat begin to speed up, and his breath beginning to shift into something closer to a fearful pant. The last time he had been this deep underwater... no! FOCUS! You can still breathe, you can still see. They aren't here, this isn't your nightmare. People need you.

A trio of hitodama lights blazed to life around Mori and he readied his sword in case the approaching person was an enemy.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

For a moment, Mori believes what he sees to be a young woman. Was it....Shinomiya Nene? Red hair, blue eyes, a hoodie.....wasn't this her?

Something didn't feel-
Sawatari. Let me teach you something about the power of Kaijin.

Though he heard Kanade speak, the sound feels like it's coming from within his head, rather than from her speaking to him directly.

A Kaijin's powers aren't restricted to combat alone as you miust have learned by now.  Your Kaijin possesses power over shadows, while Kasuga's possesses power over fire. While you don't have the power to pierce illusions like myself or Tsukuyomi, your power over shadows might be of use here. Focus on the target and tear away the darkness.

[Smoke Mirrors]

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and focused. He could feel something wasn't right, even if he couldn't see it. He was looking for hidden information... but that was what he was good at, wasn't it?

He held his hand out and grabbed onto... something.


_{*"Oh secrets, reveal thyselves unto me."*}

He pulled.

[IamanElfCollaborator]

He feels it; a thin veil, barely there, like silk and rice paper and velvet all in one.

He pulls.

The figment of Nene Shinomiya vanishes, torn, turning into wisps of darkness fading rapidly in the darkness of the depths. Kanade's voice contains a small hint of pride.
"You learn quick, Sawatari. Not all of Andras' illusions are going to be so easy to tear apart, though. I suspect he was using that to probe for our presence in here. He's nearby."

She pauses, wincing. She moves one of her armblades to her side, tapping it. Sawatari, should he look there, notices that the metal making up Scathach's body is slightly tarnished and dented there.

"That truck did a lot more damage than I thought it did. Don't worry. I can hold on until we save Shinomiya-senpai and Yagami-senpai."
Down the corridor, you see someone else running, this time past the corridor rather than towards you. Should you attempt to pull them, you realise that it is no illusion; the real Nene Shinomiya is being chased by someone or something.

[Smoke Mirrors]

Moving in close, Mori placed one hand on Kanade’s side, as silver light flowed out of his sleeve and began straightening out the metal.

”Now quit making me waste my healing spells, Princess.” he said.

Seeing the real Shinomya in danger, Mori dashed away, sword and flames drawn, trying to get between her and whatever was chasing.


”Need some help, miss?”

[IamanElfCollaborator]

Mori finds that his healing doesn't actually do anything. Kanade shakes her head.
"Your magic isn't strong enough yet to heal injuries I take in human form. Like I said, focus on the real target."

Indeed, Kanade rushes ahead of Mori. She's somewhat slower, somewhat less graceful than she was fighting Andras earlier. Of course, this is all relative; slower than she was prior still means she's faster than most of the Helper's Club Kaijin.

Mori tries to get between Nene and her pursuer, but several things happen.

Firstly, Kanade is still fast enough to get there first.

Secondly, her pursuer is-

"Why won't you die?!"

An icy blade thrusts out of the ground, out of solid shadows as Andras reappears. Kanade is almost too slow to evade, but parries the strike with a kick, swiping Andras and throwing him to the side.

"What the hell...where are we?!"

Nene seems ruffled, but otherwise none the worse for wear. Mori notes that she's carrying a broken piece of driftwood, slightly iced over. It seems she might have managed to fight off Andras for a little bit.

Andras pulls himself up, cracking his neck.
"Dear Princess. You could barely protect a man who wants you and yours gone without throwing yourself under the bus. You couldn't even protect poor Yui-chan. What would she think, I wonder, seeing you fail to-"

He barely evades Kanade's lunge, darting out of the way as her armblade stabs where his head was almost a second ago. He laughs.

"Slow on the take, are we? The Black Princess of Calamity isn't so invincible after all. Mark my words, Sawatari. She won't be here to protect you from me."

"Who...wait. Kanade? Damn it! I can't leave her, but...."

"Stay back. Sawatari, you can back me up, right?"
Kanade's voice sounds slightly laboured.
Mildred, Akihiko, Riku and the rest head towards the sobbing. They find themselves trudging along a desolate path of sand, surrounded in all directions by coral and rock save the sea above.

Not far from their starting location, there is a dip towards a clearing below. A gigantic sea shell can be seen, a sickly pale white in color with thin black cracks across its surface. Across the other end of the clearing, you can see a tall, thin figure in black, Jack the Ripper, from the looks of it, and he seems to be fighting off what appear to be amalgams of sea life and coral twisted into human form; you can assume that these are the Onibi of the Domain.

To the east of the clearing, you can see a massive dividing wall, but squinting past it, you see, barely, four shapes. If you squint, you can recognise them as Nene, Scathach, Sawatari and Andras; Andras and Scathach appear to be fighting. However, the wall is tall and thick enough that there doesn't appear to be any way to get to them at the moment.

The sobbing seems to be coming from the sea shell, where the Onibi are pouring out to fight Jack the Ripper.

[SeriousConcentrate]

"Caught you now, you shitty stalker! I'm gonna tear you to shreds and then I'm ending this domain!"

She never thought she'd end up fighting beside the Onibi, but sometimes there was a worse thing around that needed a priority curbstomping. Those beasts could go down afterward.

"You just hold on in that shell! We're coming to save you!"

Mildred renewed the wind at her back, pushing herself and her allies forward to the fight. She was, after all, the embodiment of pursuit, the winds of imminent victory.

[Smoke Mirrors]

_{"Your magic isn't strong enough yet to heal injuries I take in human form.
"Is it that? Or is it that you don't really want to?"}

He ignored the whispers in the back of his head. Eyes on the prize, Sawatari.


"You say that like it's a threat and not something I'd have marked on my calendrer like fucking graduation." Mori replied, "I mean, fuck man, you couldn't even kill a little girl with no demon to rely on. Serious downgrade on your intimidation points right there. Starting to question if I actually need someone standing between us."

He moved to scoop up Nene, not wanting another mad dash to get to someone in time.


_{*"Sorry about this.*} he whispered to her, _{*"You're doing great by the way."*}


"Now as for backup..."

Massive thorny roots burst from the ground and hung menacingly, like the tentacles of a Kraken hidden beneath the sand, as heavy black pollen floated through the air, dotted with the petals of blood-red flowers. Meanwhile, a few thinner, quicker roots waited below the ground, ready to lurch out unexpectedly and grab onto any fugly toad majin trying to get out of the way of a well deserved kick to the face.


"Will this do?"

[IamanElfCollaborator]

As Mildred approaches the shell, she finds a gigantic coiled serpentine being, the fin horizontal rather than vertical. The scales are a shimmering green, light glinting off the scales from wherever it was coming from above. The serpent is coiled three times, almost three storeys tall.

Faint sobbing emanates from the middle of the coil, as it shifts, revealing the top of the coil. At the top, the serpentine body meets with a much smaller, human-sized body, with blue skin, torn clothes and messy red hair, floating in the ethereal water of the Domain. Her hair covers most of her face save for one fin-like ear and one bloodshot eye. Both of her hands are covering her face, as she sobs quietly.

From the depths of the shell where Mildred cannot see, the Onibi pour out, ignoring Mildred entirely to fight Jack the Ripper.

Unlike most of the other Akuma so far, this one ignores you entirely.

"Leave me be..."

"Little girl?! I'm twenty-thr-"
Her protests are cut off as Mori scoops her up as Andras circles around.

"You toy with the prey first. It makes the hunt a little more interesting."

Mori's thorns are met with creeping ice and shadows, each rising thorn frozen over or torn apart by nipping, tearing darkness. He laughs.

"Don't you remember, kid? This is a Domain, and I can manipulate it however I wish!"

"Stay close, Sawatari. I don't think we're going to get any help, so it'll have to be you and me."

"One more tally on your ledger, Princess. First Majima, then Shinomiya and Sawatari. You'll be the last."