Chapter 13: The Beginning Of The End

Riku's POV:

I felt my heart quickened when the evil angel is charging up his power, we cannot go near him because of the flow of unnatural energy is so strong, attacking him will be suicide. I gasped when I noticed the corpses of the ghouls that we have just killed turned into dark matters, and it formed into a dark tornado that's spins around Azrael before he absorbs it in his body. After he soaked up all those dark powers, the angel raises his head and makes eye contact with us with his glowing purple eyes, just staring at those eyes feels like my soul is getting suck out of my body.

"This is hell." I mumbled before gulping down a lump in my throat.

"So, what's your plan?" Shido asked, a trickle of cold sweats drips down his head.

"He turned into a monster than ever before; can we even beat this guy?! ...No, I shouldn't lose faith in my friends, and I should stop doubting mys-"

"Riku! Heads up!"

"...?!"

I was cut off from my thoughts when the angel flew towards me with unmeasurable speed. Just before I could act, I felt his clawed hand clamps around my neck as I felt myself being lifted off the ground. I raised my right hand holding the sword, and I switched the sword position to held it upside down so I could stab him in the arm, but he only adds some strength in his grip. I'm very lucky to have some spirit power inside me or else, my neck is probably broken right now or worse. My hand's grip on the sword loosened, causing it to fall to the ground with a clang; my eyes rolled up in my head, as my body was lacking out of oxygen.

"Let go of him!!!"

Thanks to Kotori jumping in and cutting the angel's whole arm off, I was relieved when I was released from Azrael's grasp, I ended up falling to the ground coughing and gasping for air. The angel's hand also fell with me, I throw it on the ground in front of me when I felt it loosen its grip around my neck. After throwing it, I was surprised when it turned into an evaporating oozy black liquid.

"Th-Thanks Kotori."

"You should really avoid getting too distracted from your thoughts you know?"

She raised one eyebrow, causing me to scratch my head.

"Hehe..."

"Don't hehe me idiot!"

We've turned our attention back to the angel. I felt my skin crawls and my stomach churns up when the angel's arm grows back like a lizard regenerating its missing limb. But his arm is different than before; his arm is leathery like a reptile skin, and the nails are a lot sharper.

"I... I've never seen like this before." Kotori stuttered.

Azrael look at his new arm before looking back at us with a sadistic smile. He charged again, but this time he raised his scythe over his head getting ready to swing at us.

"Everyone, scatter!" Kotori yelled.

She pushed me to the ground while the others ducked in different directions, but some of us didn't get away without a scratch.

"Wh-What just happened?!" Shido exclaimed, gritting his teeth while he's in the ground. I saw his shoulder bleeding furiously from laceration.

"Hi-His blade didn't even connect! Wh-Why am I?!" Tohka stuttered.

I look at her, and saw her sweating heavily in the ground. I noticed there's blood pouring out behind her left leg, she suffered the same wound like Shido.

The angel's eyes glanced at me and Kotori, he swung his scythe again creating multiple blades of wind – it came flying to us with a sound like swords clashing with each other. We try to stand up as quickly as we can, but both of us aren't fast enough. Thanks to our luck, two spirits suddenly appeared in front of us.

Miku used her voice to create a supersonic sound wave to block the incoming attack.

"Looks like you own Miku too, Kotori-san. How about a meal at Danny's if we get out of this alive?" Kurumi chuckled, glancing at Kotori playfully which earned an annoyed groan from her.

She turns her attention back to Azrael and points her flintlock at him.

"Zaphkiel, Zayin!"

Three bullets shot out from the barrel of her gun; it went piercing through the wind with a red glow. The first bullet hits the angel, it has no effect; the second bullet hits him again, but this time it slows his mobility down a bit; the third bullet hits him, and it finally stops him from moving.

"Such troublesome thing, are you? ...Tobiichi-san, you're up!" Kurumi gestured to Origami.

The white-haired girl known as Origami flew up, she controlled the pillars behind her back and placed it over Azrael's unmoving figure in a circular formation. I stared in awe when she raised her hands to the sky as the pillars starts to charge up a pure yellow light energy.

"Metatron! Artelif!"

With her command, she brings her hands down forcefully and the charged-up energy went crashing down to the angel, causing him to be crushed in the ground by the powerful force of the burning beam of light, and also breaking the effect of Kurumi's seventh bullet.

"She did it!" I said inside my mind, but I was cut off short when I saw the angel is trying to fight through the attack.

""H-He's resisting it?!" I exclaimed.

"Not for long!"

I noticed in the sky, two girls with the same orange hair are looking down at the angel with a smug smile on their faces.

"Are you ready Yuzuru?!"

"Respond. I'm ready as you are!"

They both went closer together, and their weapons transformed into a single weapon; Kaguya's lance turns into an arrow while Yuzuru's chain weapon turns into a bow that glows very bright. And with that, together, they yelled out...

"Raphael! El Kanaph!"

With a powerful blast, the arrow broke the sound barrier because of how fast it travels down towards its target. My adrenaline spiked from how strong the Yamai sisters are when they are working together. It's like there's a category 5 storm inside the building all of a sudden.

The ground starts to shake. I heard a rumbling noise all over the place, I look up just in time to see the roof of the building is starting to fall apart because of the power that the spirits are releasing. Thankfully, Miku and Natsumi are trying their best to protect everyone from all the falling debris; Miku is using her voice while Natsumi is transforming all of it into bubbles, butterflies, and teddy bears.

"It's too many, I don't think they'll be able to hold off all of this!" I exclaimed.

"Just trust them, you're talking about Miku and Natsumi here." Kotori replies confidently.

Miku's legs are starting to shake while beads of sweats start to drip down from her head. For Natsumi, she's breathing heavily, she looks like she's ready to collapse on the spot in any minute now.

My eyes focused on Shido, Tohka, and Kurumi. The time spirit already went there without me noticing, I got worried when she pointed a gun on Tohka's head.

"Hey, Don't!"

I felt a hand grip my shoulder when I'm about to run towards them.

"Hold your horses, just take a look... See?" Kotori said calmly.

I observe the three of them. Without any hesitation, Kurumi pulled the trigger of her gun. I was amazed and confused when I saw Tohka's wound is slowly healing.

"Uhh? What did she do?" I look at Kotori.

"It's Kurumi's fourth bullet called Dalet, it can heal any physical injuries and mental damage by turning back the clock." She explained.

"Interesting."

A few moments later, the whole building turned into ruin. There is no roof, the walls are crumbling, some of the pile of human blobs turned to ashes, and all we can see is the darken clouded sky that's emitting purple lightning. Both Miku and Natsumi fell unconscious from using too much of their powers, their astral dress vanished leaving them both naked.

All of us rushed to their side. Miku groaned out and slowly opened her eyes when Shido touched her on the shoulder.

"O-Oh, darling... i-it's you?" She weakly spoke up before falling unconscious again.

"N-Natsumi?! W-Wake up!"

I saw Yoshino trying to wake up her friend up, but I think Natsumi is the most exhausted from the both of them.

"We should take them back to my house, it's not safe here."

Suddenly, the twins stepped in.

"We'll go!" Kaguya insisted

"Agree. Both me and Kaguya are much faster." Yuzuru added.

"Alright, be safe you two." Shido said.

Both twins nodded. They gave both unconscious spirit a piggy back before flying off to the dark sky, but not too high so the lightning wouldn't hit them.

"There are only seven of us left." Kotori said.

I glanced at the unconscious angel; half of his right body has been pulverized by the destructive attack lately.

"Riku?"

I heard Kotori's voice behind me, I look at her and saw all the worries in her eyes.

"He won't stay down for long; I need to seal him inside of me quick. I already told you this, right?"

"Yeah, you did. You also told me that our promises to each other will be broken, right?"

"..."

"Let me ask you a question first? ...We have so many promises, so what kind of promises that you'll break?"

I hesitated at first before continuing...

"I-I'm sorry... After this, it's possible that this will be our last time we will ever get to see each other."

"Wh-What?! What do you mean by that?!

"It's... complicated."

She walks towards me and force me to face her.

"Just spill it out already!" She demanded.

I look at her deep and the eyes and said...

"There's a chance that I'll die!"

"...?!"

She went silent. Her eyes trembles from my sudden statement. I quickly turned my back on her, I just can't bear to look at her in the eyes after that statement.

"Th-There must be another way, right?!... right?!"

I just keep walking away from her.

"Stop ignoring me! Answer me!"

I approached Azrael, and picked up his scythe that's laying in front of his fallen figure. Just by touching it, the hair at the back of my neck stands up as I felt cold chills run all over my body. When I look at the blade, I can see the souls of the thousand victims by the master of this weapon screaming for help and revenge. After inspecting the scythe, I opened my left palm wide. I bring the sharp end of the scythe to my flesh and flinched when I carved a six-pointed star using the blade as my blood crawls down all the way to my shoulder.

"Finally, this nightmare is over." I gave my friends a final glance. "Shido, do me a favor? ...If Kotori went charging, do try to stop her. I don't want anyone to interfere."

"Wh-What kind of fucking decision is this?! Kotori raged; her glaring eyes starts to form tears.

She turns her head towards her brother. She run up to him, and hold his shirt tightly.

"Big brother please don't listen to him! ... Big brother?! ...Shido, please stop him!"

Her brother looks at the ground between his feet. Ignored by her brother, she went running towards my direction but only to be stopped when Shido pulled her arms and gave her a tight hug.

"Let go of me! ...Riku, please let's just find another way!" She cried out, wriggling and struggling to get out from her brother's grasp.

Turning my attention back to what I was doing again, I throw the scythe aside and went closer to the fallen angel. I noticed half of his body had recovered except for his whole arm, I took this chance and acted quickly before he regains consciousness again.

Kotori's POV:

"I have to stop him! ...No, if I did that, then this world is doomed... But I... I don't wanna lose him either!"

I'm trying to be positive about this situation, but what he just said shook me to the very core. I never expect this outcome, and I never planned there will be someone who will sacrifice their life for the salvation of the world... Especially, if that someone is very dear to you.

"There must be another way?!" That's all what keeps repeating inside my head as I try to think some way of stopping the angel without putting someone's life in the line, but I'm only getting frustrated with each second passed with no idea entering my mind. Suddenly, I heard a sound of cracking and squishing. I look at the direction of where the sound is coming from, and what I saw will haunt me for a long time.

Everything went silent when I saw a clawed hand went through Riku's stomach. The world stops, and I feel something building up inside me that wants to come out.

"No... No! ...NOOOOOO!!!" With a seething rage, I got covered in flames making my brother lose his grasp. I went charging towards Riku's direction but...

"Ku-Kurumi stop her immediately!"

I heard Riku cried out, that's when multiple white hands sprouted underneath me to stop me on my track.

"LET ME GOOOOO!!! RRRRAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

I roared as fire blasted out from the ground and all around me like the gates of hell is opening up to burn the hands that are holding me, but it didn't seem to affect them no matter how high the temperature increased. My desperate fiery eyes look at their direction, and that's when I saw Yoshino with a white armor using her freezing power to control my flames.

Shido's POV:

"Damn it!" I said inside my mind as I watch my sister slowly succumbing to her inversed form and Riku who is struggling to control the angel as his life slowly ticks away.

My legs give away, I punched the ground with my right hand as hard as I could.

"Shi-Shido?! Why did you stop Kotori?!"

"..."

"Shido?!"

"..."

"Tsk! ...I'm gonna go and help him!"

I immediately stand up and grab Tohka by the shoulder.

"L-Let go!"

"It's not easy for me too! But you all heard Riku, right?! ...He doesn't want us to interfere no matter what happen!"

I look at her in the eyes.

"But he's dying Shido!"

She yelled back at me; our little quarrel was cut off short when...

"GRRRAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!"

Riku cried out, forcing through the pain to let his left-hand clamps on the angel's head, that's when I saw multiple black tendrils appeared behind his back, flailing wildly in the air like an octopus' arms.

"What the hell is that?!"

The tendrils wrapped around the angel's whole body like a snake, but he keeps fighting it off, so he pushes his clawed hand further inside Riku's stomach.

"ARGH!!!" He groaned loudly as he coughed out blood. "Y-Yeah... keep doing that you son of a bitch... you're just making this a lot... easier!"

The tendrils began to emit powerful dark powers like from Azrael. Just then, a warp like black hole appeared in Riku's stomach from where the angel penetrated him. The angel roared, and when he pulls his hand back from the stomach, black blood squirted everywhere when he loses his arm again.

I was just standing there with my whole body shaking and my eyes trembling from what I'm witnessing right now. My widened eyes look up to the sky, the dark clouds are circling again, and the wind and lightning intensify.

"Shi-Shido?! What's happening?!"

"Riku is beginning to seal him!"

"Shido-san!"

I look at Kurumi and saw her struggling to contain Kotori. The hands she just summoned had decreased while for Yoshino, the icy wind she's producing is starting to weaken. Kotor's flames turned red, and the crack beneath her starts to spew out lava.

"I... I don't know how long we can hold her!" Kurumi exclaimed.

I darted back and forth between Kotori and Riku. I clenched my fist as hard as I could that blood starts to pour out.

"If this keeps up, this world will crumble down!"

"Everyone, take cover now!" I ordered.

All of us took cover over some still standing walls that was left by the destroyed building. For Kurumi and Yoshino, they already stop restraining the flame spirit, both of them took cover behind the thick wall. Kurumi is sitting with her back pressed against the wall; Yoshino already turned Yoshinon back to her puppet form, and she was left sitting on the ground breathing heavily while the rabbit tries to comfort her adorably.

"Tohka?!" I look at the purple spirit.

"Yeah?"

"Tell Origami to get ready, I want both of you to weaken Kotori so I could talk some sense into her and seal her powers back."

Tohka nodded.

Without warning... *BOOM!!!*

"Ack!!!" I hold my ground when the explosion shook the earth.

"Tohka! Go with Origami! ...Don't let Kotori get close to Riku!" I ordered.

"Got it!"

She replied before going to Origami and charging off towards the ticking time bomb. With them holding off my sister, I glanced back to Riku and...

"He's gone?! The angel's gone?!" I spoke.

"He finally sealed him!" My mind filled with joy and hope.

In the middle of the ruined building, Riku is the only one standing with his back hunched while blood is pouring out from the hole in his stomach. I took a few steps forward carefully. I froze when I felt something different, something not right.

"R-Riku? Are you... okay?"

"It's... finally over." He mumbled.

He spins around and when he shows his face, I gasped when blood is pouring out from his mouth, nose, and his reddened eyes. I was frozen like an icicle in one spot, I only got out from my trance when he suddenly pushed me to the ground using his body weight. I groaned loudly when both of us fell to the ground hard. I was about to open my mouth to question him until a large hot beam went zooming by from where we were standing lately, incinerating its path.

I glanced at the direction of where the beam comes from, and there I saw Kotori with an unconscious Tohka and Origami beneath her feet, but there's something different about her: Her white kimono combusted into flames, her eyes glowed fiery red with burning veins crawling from the side of her head and face.

"I... I have to... save her."

Riku said quietly, and crawls off me. Using what was left of his strength, he dragged his whole body towards the inversing flame spirit. I quickly got up on my feet to stop him only to get stop by a trail of large fire blocking the path. From outside her fire, I caught a glimpse of both of them facing each other, I gasped when she's pointing her cannon on Riku and starts charging it.

"Kotori! Stop this!" I cried out.

Riku's POV:

After taking care of Azrael, what I'm facing in front of me now is an out-of-control flame spirit. Just from the sight of her, she's like an organic nuclear bomb waiting to explode to cause even more damage.

"I need to stop her... It's my fault she went crazy."

She points her large cannon at me while her eyes glows like a blazing sun.

"Kotori... please... enough of this." I spoke up weakly.

"Who are you?" She asked bluntly.

"Wh-What? ...Kotori, it's me... Riku. Don't you remember?" I replied.

"Ri-Riku..."

She holds her temple with her free hand, and closed her eyes tightly as her body starts shaking. The temperature in the area drops just a few as the fire in the area and inside the muzzle of her weapon starts to weaken.

"Do you... remember me?"

I use what was left of my strength to stand up, I couldn't believe I can still stand even if there's a hole in my stomach, maybe it's because of Azrael's power. But after absorbing him, I feel like there are insects crawling and biting me all over my body.

"Fuck! It's... It's so painful!"

I groaned and grunted loudly as I limped towards her, but I got halted in my track when her weapon resumes its charging. When it's about to be fully charged, I saw Kurumi appeared behind her with a blink of an eye.

"Daleto!"

She shoots her bullet, but Kotori moved to the side. After missing, the bullet almost hits me, but it suddenly freezes in the air just right in front of my face. The flame spirit swings her cannon, hitting Kurumi in the rib area, sending her flying and sliding across the ground just a few feet away from us.

*Cough! *

I saw blood shot out from her mouth.

"You again?" Kotori growled.

"Kihihihi~ Oh, so you remember me? How surprising from an inversed."

"Hehe... How can I forget the spirit that I've almost killed?"

Kotori smiled sadistically; she transformed her angel from a cannon back to a giant flaming halberd.

"Now, how about I take off that pretty head of yours and place it on a burning stake?" She commented.

I cursed underneath my breath as I forced my body to stop her. I painfully rushed towards her without thinking.

"That's enou-!"

Before I have the chance to complete my sentence, I feel a tremendous pain in the wound of my stomach. She hits me forcefully using her elbow while still keeping an eye on Kurumi. From the unbearable pain that I'm feeling, I can't help but to fall to the ground on my side whilst clenching the hole of my stomach.

"Kurumi! Now! Do it!"

I heard Shido yelled outside the ring of fire. To my surprise, I caught a glimpse of the bullet that was floating in front of my face lately came flying towards Kotori in reverse without her knowing.

Sha gasped sharply when the bullet penetrated the soft flesh of her back, causing the ability of the bullet to quickly take effect, that's when the fire all around us is beginning to calm down.

"I-It looks like I win this time, Kotori-san." Kurumi said weakly, before losing consciousness.

Kotori blazing kimono transforms back into the white usual kimono astral dress whilst her glowing eyes starts to fade away, showing her irises again. She drops down to the floor, crying out from the sudden decreased of her powers. But after a few moments, she immediately calmed down, leaving her catching her breath.

"What... happened?" She gasped.

"Good... you're back." I replied weakly.

My vision is getting even more cloudy, all I can see now is Kotori's glowing flame, it's just so... beautiful. Also, I can still hear her, but I couldn't make up of what she was saying. I slowly closed my eyes, letting peace take me.

Suddenly, I heard a clear voice spoke up...

"Riku, thank you for bringing peace to him and to both worlds."

"Rinne?"

After hearing her voice, everything turns dark. I remember when Kurumi transported us to the evacuation building using her portal of darkness, but this feels different than hers, this darkness feels like a warm blanket hugging you in the cold night. It just feels so... soothing.

When I opened my eyes, I found myself lying in the cold depth of the abyss. I couldn't move my whole body, I just lied there like a rock.

All of a sudden, there's light illuminated in front of me so brightly. In the light, a familiar girl and a young boy with a white hair step out.

"Rinne and... Tsukiya?" I mumbled.

Both of them gave me a warm smile as a sign of their thanks before disappearing into tiny particles of light. After they disappeared, one girl steps outside. The light made her sight oh so beautiful, her red hair and white kimono radiates perfectly, calming my mind and my nerves.

"Kotori..." I said under my breath, tears start to form in the corner of my eyes.

Her eyes are all puffy with dry tears showing at the side of her face. She reached out her hand to me, desperately trying to bring me back into the light, but that's when my vision starts to blurred out again. My consciousness is slowly drifting away until all that remains is... darkness, just stone-cold darkness.

"Kotori... please... Be strong for me..."