[center]-=-=The Eidolic Cairn=-=-[/center]

So the sharp-tongued codger managed to portal away.  Gomory had expected as much.  The machine, meanwhile, appeared to have made it to the central platform, though he very nearly tottered on its brink.  Only a moment’s work would send him spiraling into the howling dark, gone forever.  She leveled the sheathed blade at him and flicked upward, allowing her sorcery to flow through it to the object of her focus.  Beneath KYL’s feet, the ground began to discolor, subtly forewarning the coming attack.  Yet, the explosive column of paint did not come, for Gomory found her ire drawn back toward the obnoxious human.  With some sort of magic he uncovered her name, but with blatant disrespect for its owner he used it as the prelude to a pack of derision and lies.  The demoness did not believe it for an instant; any being who set himself against her down here desired genocide, be it of humans or demons.  His appearance and manner gave him away, for his reputation preceded him.  

Gomory flicking her wrist, and the paint beneath KYL extended upward into a webbed lattice that surrounded and trapped him.  Then she turned her smoldering eyes to Akoni.  [color=E0115F]”I’m not one for small talk, demon slayer,”[/color] she enunciated, making sure he knew what she would hold against him.  [color=E0115F]”Approach me and die.”[/color]  Dismissing him, she began walking toward KYL, and around her span numerous blossom petals on the wind from beyond the grave.  Before she took three steps, the formidable voice of Wrath reverberated through the cavern, and Gomory spared him a glance.  While he spoke, her mind raced.  It sped along the road of knowledge, burning through memories of tomes, tales, and tragedy.  Unfortunately, Wrath’s nature eluded her; she could only say for certain that neither purely demonic nor human blood flowed through him, and that she despised him for his ridiculous attempt at brokering peace.  [color=E0115F]”If you aimed to intimidate or manipulate, warrior, you have misestimated,”[/color] she seethed, brandishing the veiled Jiaolong.  [color=E0115F]”Do not presume my motivation.  Come and die, or leave and live.”[/color]  

By now, KYL had almost certainly broken through the trap, but Gomory found her attention diverted yet again, this time by an individual with which she held more than a passing familiarity.  This time, she held no inclination to tolerate whatsoever.  Somehow, Nero snuck up on her, and stood mere feet away from the Eidolic Cairn itself.  He now presented not just the most pertinent threat, but a monumental one at that.  Recollections of his exploits against demonkind filled her mind.  Even if he did not intent to destroy the seal, as all evidence seemed to imply, he would not allow her to live if he got his way.  Furthermore, a dangerous-looking woman followed on his heels.  As such, Gomory remained still, but her glare indicated that her inhibitions had just snapped.  [color=E0115F]”You’ll be the one painting the walls, boy.”[/color]  Shadowy light began to dance over her body, forming an aura of greenish moonlight.  It undulated violently around her weapon, as if in anticipation.  

A hail of bullets flew her way, appearing out of seemingly nowhere, but Gomory did not balk.  Lightning-fast she slashed with the sheathed Jiaolong, releasing a murky streak of paint that flew exactly opposite to the bullets.  It soaked them up before speeding off into the distance to splatter against some wall.  The list of people to kill appeared intent on growing longer by the second, and this new arrival, every bit as crotchety and sassy as the first, managed to make his way straight to the penultimate position on it through sheer ostentatiousness.  

By now, Gomory cared exceptionally little who thought themselves to be on her side.  She got the distinct impression that when everyone law in vividly colorful chunks, things would work out well enough.  Her grip tightened, and her feet shifted ever so slightly.  [color=E0115F]”You lot are trying my…”[/color]

Like a shot fired from a cannon she careened forward in a blast of moonlight.  The first slash, a diagonal upward, occurred objectively faster than even an exceptional mortal’s reaction time, ripping rather than cutting the boombox in half and striking the outstretched hammer with enough power to send it flying into the cavern wall.  Immediately after she executing a backspin slash the opposite way, creating an X-shape out of moonlight with her weapon’s trail.  Its impact aimed to send Snider upwards, though not very fair, for following up on the launcher Gomory executed a brutal Decoupage meant to strike the offending mortal as many times as possible before hurling him away.

She did not hesitate before continuing.  The demoness whirled around, her moonlight aura beautiful and alien in its austerity, and slammed the end of the sheath into the stone.  Light and paint alike rolled outward from the impact point in a chaotic wave, spreading across the entire platform.  Meanwhile, Gomory couched the weapon, waiting, waiting.  The seconds counted down in her head, and when the clock hit zero, it happened.

[color=E0115F][i][b]”PaTieNCe.”[/b][/i][/color]

For a split second, there was no gorgeous swordswoman in pink.  Where the woman once stood, an abominable demon crouched.  Her grotesque, painted form embodied a startling and inventive departure from humanity.  Perhaps even more appalling was the cursed blade in her hand, its pitch-black metal unsheathed.  Of course, this all lasted only the minutest instant, and when it passed, Gomory stood unaltered, her sheathed blade on the other side of her body.  In that split second, the demoness not only activated her Devil Trigger, but performed a minimalist slash.  She watched as the darklight paintwave exploded, consuming Mary, Nero, and KYL in an assault both intensely magical and viciously physical.  A casual observer might not have been able to fully percieve her taking actions, but the results spoke for themselves.

[color=E0115F]”Hm.”[/color]  Once again, Gomory stood idly, vaguely interested in whether or not her enemies survived the insane barrage of attacks, and how if so.  She did not, though, lose focus.  The fight for the first seal had [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bpI-KeK-PQg]begun[/url].