[ Name ] readied her weapon and sent an attack towards the incoming demon, however as its teeth bared at her, she was forced to stay defensive. Another came behind her and snapped its mouth open and shut in her direction, but she jumped up quickly making the two smash their faces into one another.
As she was in the air, the one in the ground popped back up and opened its mouth, waiting for her to come down and fall right into it. A pool of green saliva could be seen gathering at its throat and bubbling up, welcoming her to take a dive in.
However, she chose otherwise as she outstretched her hand upwards, grabbing onto the pillar before hoisting herself up. Loud growls came from below as she looked around for a possible escape. But if she escaped, would they follow her, killing innocent people along the way? And archons forbid they spread out— she wouldn't be able to stop them from finding their way to the festival and devouring the people there.
It was her job to slay these creatures, so that's what she'll do. And even if it weren't her job, her morals wouldn't allow them to live. Her limbs felt heavy and the weapon in her hands shook for a moment before she squeezed her fist, making it still to hide her physical pain.
The sharp claws of one of the demons grated against metal as it rapidly dug into the pillar and climbed up towards her.
She turned and ( drew her bow / readied her sword/spear/claymore) in preparation for its approach.
As it panted loudly and threw its claw to tear into her flesh, she used her energy to teleport behind it before rapidly piercing its ankles, relentlessly and over and over as quickly as she could.
It screeched loudly as its hind legs were cut, the tendons holding its feet and ankles together severing, making it lose its balance and fall back to the floor. She swayed slightly, a nasty cough coming out from her mouth as she raised her fist to cough into it. Blood decorated her hand as she continued to cough, her eyes watering unbearably as her chest began to hurt the more breathless she grew.
Not realizing another had made it up from its unconventional tactics, she glanced up through her eyelashes to the ceiling to see the suction on its legs allowed it to scale the walls and walk along the ceiling.
Her eyes widened as it dropped down and she quickly ducked out of its way as it snagged a flowing article of her clothing.
The fabric tore with a loud ripping noise, her descent to the ground and line of sight being met with two impatient demons, one snapping as it laid on its side on the ground while the other jumped up to try and catch her out of the air.
At some point, she was able to finish off the injured demon and stop its painful screeching from creating a migraine for her. Having no time to pray for the manifestation of the fallen god, she scanned around her rapidly looking for the other two.
There was only one demon visible to her, the other one she assumed burrowed back under the ground again. As she stood and caught her breath for a moment, her adrenaline began to dwindle at a dangerous rate.
Takemichi and Mikey had made it to the warehouse at this point, having questioned some people if they saw her. A man in a teal demon mask pointed out the direction she headed, and they ran there without stopping as they called out her name.
The two saw that the entrance was blocked off and walked around the entire building in hopes of finding another way in, hearing the fighting loud and clear from outside and knowing it must be her in there.
At one point, they found a stack of empty crates pushed against the side of the building. At the top of it, they could see the hint of a window where moonlight filtered in.
They climbed up the crates, Mikey extending his hand for Takemichi to grab occasionally as they were hopeful to see if they could get in from there.
But they would be met with disappointment as metal bars blocked their way, ones similar to a jail cell and holding them back from crawling inside.
Gripping onto the bars, the two stood beside one another as they caught their breaths while squinting to look inside. What they saw made both their hearts drop, red and black blood painting the floor and walls as [ Name ] defended herself against what looked to be a monster, one Takemichi was all too familiar with.
Takemichi yelled out her name, but her battle drive tuned it out. She hyper focused on the enemies in front of her, ignoring the allies concerned callings.
She was beginning to feel lightheaded no matter how much her mind screamed to keep it together, but her body's physical limits will always overpower her battle tenacity no matter how hard she tries to defy it.
She narrowly dodged as the one visible demon clawed at her before it began to rapidly slash as she stumbled backwards.
One of the long talons managed to lightly graze her cheek, a dose of adrenaline shooting out from the pain as she retaliated by falling back a considerable distance and readying a counter.
Finally getting a chance to get a hit in, [ Name ] took it as she used her weapon to blind both of its eyes. The creature writhed in pain, holding its inky hand up to its eyes and swayed, blindly throwing its claw of its other hand at her again.
With its disorientation and sloppy movements, [ Name ] was able to administer more and more cuts. It was a slow process, but eventually it stood tall and still, before its body began to dissipate in gold, fluttering particles.
Without giving her any time to rest, directly beneath her the third demon used the same tactic as before. The one where he emerged from the ground as it hoped to swallow her along with a bundle of broken concrete.
She felt it coming, but she didn't dodge. As the ground crumbled, her eye twitched as she fell over, a line of blood spilling from her lips and traveling down from her chin to her neck.
The rubble hit against her and forced her body to turn, her bruised and broken body bouncing against the ground before she rolled and landed on her back.
Her eyes dulled, and that's when Takemichi realized that she was giving up. She knows she doesn't stand a chance. She needs to live, but she knows she won't. She's overexerted herself so much that she was in more pain than she would be if she was dealt a fatal blow due to the Karma that racked her body.
'So, this is the end?' She thought to herself, her thoughts keeping her company as her ears rang, droning out the rest of the world.
'To think my downfall would be because I am too trusting of mortals.'
'I'm sorry... Takemichi, Mikey, Hina.'
Her eyes felt as if they were being pinched and turned as tears glazed over them.
'And I'm so very sorry... Xiao.'
She really did try. She never gave up on the hope to see him again. And even in the end, she couldn't give up her love for humans despite being betrayed by one. And she couldn't let go of her love for Xiao either. Her eyes watered, shakily using the rest of her energy to move her hand in front of her face and gently swipe her thumb under her eyes to stop the tears from ever starting.
'Is it okay...? Is it okay for me to want to cry? To mimic human emotions that I was supposed to rid myself of? To feel nervous at the prospect of death? To want to live?'
Her lips parted to utter his name one last time, 'Xiao', but only silence emerged as she felt her eyelids grow heavy. Tears stubbornly squeezed their way out of the corner of her eyes and slid to her ears despite not wanting to show sorrow in her last moments. Her will to fight despite her body being completely worn persisted as she remained conscious. But there was no hope for her. Her slow, shallow breaths did nothing but try and convince her to ease into a deep sleep, but she continued to refuse it.
As she forced her eyes open once again, something seemed to change with her environment. She could no longer feel the vibration of the heavy demon approaching her, and its appearance was disfiguring. The demon's image distorted, its dark features morphing into short hair and fair skin.
[ Name ]'s eyes widened as she used the rest of her energy to lift one of her shaky, frail hands towards the demon, her pre-death insanity making her think it was a familiar demon slayer.
"Xiao, my Xiao..." she mumbled, her voice cracking as her arm became encased in the demon's mouth in slow motion.
"How I've missed you..." she cried, her surprised expression relaxing into a content smile as tears clouded her vision and her heart's panicked pace slowed down.
Takemichi and Mikey's shouts of horror went deaf to her ears as the damp, moldy floors morphed into soft, delicate, airy clouds. The dull and eerie metallic walls fell to show clear blue skies as the warm sun spread across her body.
And in front of her no longer stood a demon, but the man she loved outstretching his warm hand to grab ahold of hers.