Kire just needed a breather, just a few moments and she’d be able to meet Akuma’s unnatural strength. If only the room would stop spinning, if only the illusions stopped torturing her mind. Her ribs ached, and the head injury she had only partially healed earlier began to throb with it, but she had to ignore these. She had to devote all the energy into killing this doll. But when she looked up, something else had taken on the task. [i]Ruli![/i] He turned into a demon almost, snarling and clawing like some animal let loose. Kire almost laughed, both in relief and in wonder at his sudden resolve, so different from the conflicted hatred he’d had for just the mere sight of her face. “Holy shit,” she breathed, just as Ysaryn pulled her to her feet. 

Her question, though. As amazing as it was to finally see him fight, Kire had to remind herself that the danger wasn’t over. The dolls around them begun to shift, as if waking up from slumber. And [i]Gavin[/i]…he was gaping at the sight, unaware that the dolls were moving towards him. “For now.” She pointed at Gavin. “We need the Gemini alive. He knows where the master is.”  
“Enough!” Akuma cried out, an inexplicable expression on her face, as if it wanted to contort in anger but didn’t quite know how to do that. The rune circles lit up as her own eyes flashed red, as did the eyes of the dolls around them, while the illusions faded from Kire’s mind. Akuma met Ruli’s lunge with a fist, raised her sword at him just as the dolls rushed forward towards them. 
This time, head clear, Kire met the dolls and cut some of them down before they could reach Ruli. The dolls clawed at her, too, but she knocked them back, slashing her way to Gavin. The rune circle still shone, however, and with each doll she cut down, with each tainted blood that spilled on it, Akuma’s eyes flashed. [i]Fuck, this can’t be good.[/i] “Gemini!” she yelled, even as she pulled dolls off him. Once he was free, she grabbed him by his collar. “Where is Ikegai? He’s close he’s here somewhere, but he’s got protective wards up. [i]Where?[/i]” Kire’s other hand beheaded another doll, slashed at another, ignoring the pull of fatigue, stronger now that she was taking as much energy the Ring could give her. 

Gavin gasped, looking into the woman’s face. She was so very alike Akuma and yet, this close, he could see she was a totally different entity altogether. It wasn’t just the hair, or the scar, but the eyes—the fire behind them, that no doll could replicate. “Not far. Deeper down. Secret passage. I can—I can lead you to it break the prot—” He gasped, face crumpling in horror, as the voice of Akuma in his head screamed, his hands scratching at his own face. Kire smelled the stink of control on him. [i]Fuck![/i] A wave of blood magic surged from the chamber, more powerful than just glamour, searching for subject to control. It was strongest in its epicenter, Akuma, and radiated outward. They were deep underground, but the control extended just far enough to affect humans immediately aboveground.