Akuma writhed, shrieking as she felt the bite on her neck. The last time she had felt [i]pain[/i] was during her birth, when Ikegai, having collected enough blood from the many encounters Kire had with his imperfect dolls, had stitched her together with the flesh of a beautiful Amrian lass. In her blood was the blood of Amrians, Shadow-Elves, and Kartaians, charged with taboo magic. “Ruli,” she cried out, pouring in all the pitiful emotions she could mimic, “Ruli, [i]please[/i], you’re hurting me.” With one desperate burst, she radiated glamour, even as she used unnatural strength to hold onto him and throw him full-force against the wall. It was weaker than her earlier blows, owing to the simultaneous use of glamour and the stolen blood leaking out of her neck, but it was enough to get him off her. Akuma picked up her sword and raised it, just as dolls poured into the room to hold him down. 
“That brat gave you something, didn’t he?” She smiled, though it didn’t match the tone of her voice. “When it wears off, you’ll feel twice as worse. And it will wear off, soon. Can you keep that up?” 

[i]He got her out![/i] Kire could sense it; the glamour was still strong, but Gavin had stopped shrieking. “Ikegai. [i]Now![/i]” The lad trembled, but he nodded weakly, climbing to his feet, and running towards the other chamber, the one with the shallow pit and stored blood. He could feel the echoes of Akuma’s shrieking in his mind, but the mad hope had come bursting back. He muttered words, his hands moving in strange loops and circles as he faced the shallow pool, muttering hurriedly but with an intense focus, undoing the wards that he himself had laid down. The floor of the pool disappeared, and a bright, warm glow lit up the way down. [i]Ikegai. I know where you are.[/i] Kire was about to follow when she saw behind her, in the chamber across them, the swarm of dolls headed for Ruli. 
“Hurry!” Gavin pleaded. 
“Ysaryn, go help him,” Kire said, leaping down the passage. 

The whole chamber was filled with gleaming crystal veins—and women. Most were human, a couple were elves, and looking like they hadn’t seen the sun or had proper food in days. All beautiful. [i]They’re alive![/i] They were barely clothed, and some looked to still be recovering from fresh stitches on their abdomen. Their eyes looked to her, pleading. And they all held knives to their necks. 
“My Beloved,” called a feeble voice. 
On the far end, on a bed carved from crystal, was a man Kire hardly recognized, if not for the stink of blood magic that emanated so strongly from him. He looked like a living mummy, skin clinging tightly to his bones. His body smelled strongly of rot. Still, he managed to push himself upright, to look straight at her, his black eyes peering out of a skull-like face. What was keeping him alive? Blood magic, and resolve? 
“Ikegai.”
“One more step, or call your friends, and I will order them to kill themselves,” he said. She heard the women whimper, a few openly weeping, even as they still held the knives against themselves. “Akire, you have used up the portals for today, haven’t you? If you force one more at this state, your heart will give out and burst from the strain. Not even the Ring could bring you back.” He extended his hand. “Stop this.” Gavin, beside Kire, had similarly raised the knife to his own neck. “Give me the Ring.”

Kire had played out this moment so many times in her mind, and in her dreams and nightmares. It had occurred to her many times that it would come to this. The both knew it. They had clashed enough times for them to have arrived here. Kire glanced down at her hand. In all the previous encounters, there was one thing she hadn’t yet done, even if she’d said it to herself many times, even though she had come close many times. She could still feel the knife on her abdomen. Kire took a deep breath, and disappeared in a bright burst of blue light. Ikegai’s eyes widened—only for a second. It would be the last thing he saw, as Kire’s blade emerged first from the other end of the portal right in front of him. Kire crashed to the ground, at the same time as his body. All the women dropped the knives and collapsed, shaking. 

Gavin, too, collapsed onto his knees, Kire’s hunting knife still in his hand. Kire didn’t get up. From outside the chamber, a great, terrible cry. Akuma's.