Yuuki watched as the body of Asphyra began to crumble and turn to dust as her existence in this world began to fade glad that fight was over and hoping for a moments respite but knowing that Salem had mentioned something about her husband and that the crazy bitch had vaguely said she's around Yuuki tossed his pack down and pulled out the canteen and a power bar and quickly wolfed it down and chugged from the canteen the maintenance of his sword would have to wait as he was certain they were not gonna have copious amounts of time to assess damage and react as Yuuki had the rather ominous feeling something bad was about to occur as the hair on the back of his neck began to raise again letting him know the pair was indeed in imminent danger and that he and Salem should probably ready themselves for what Yuuki hoped would be the final boss as he was almost at his own physical limit.

"What now?" Yuuki questioned wondering if Salem knew what they were going to be facing as he seemed to have a familiarity with Asphyra and did inquire about the location of her husband as he was not evidently present which made Yuuki wonder if Salem had indeed tangled with the pair once before "You seem to have familiarity with the situation before us, what's her husband like?" Yuuki questioned in a curious manner trying to glean as much information he could before the battle began as there would be little time to talk or relay information once they were thoroughly engaged in combat and Yuuki suspected her husband was likely a whole lot stronger and more powerful than Asphyra was. Yuuki was not particularly worried about that aspect provided he didn't vomit out poisonous miasma like she did, but Yuuki had noticed the miasma had begun to dissipate once Salem had finished her off and could feel his strength returning to him.

Yuuki watched the last remainder of Asphyra dissipate and heard the faint whisper of "Avenge me my love!" float through the air as the last bit of her body turned to dust and vanished, it was still and quiet for a few moments after that and then Yuuki felt the ground beneath his feet began to slightly shake and rumble with the effect increasing rapidly with every passing second until it was all Yuuki could do to keep his feet before the realization dawned on him that they needed to get out of the castle before it came down on their heads "We need to get out of here or this will become our tomb." Yuuki shouted over the din as he grabbed his pack and made a mad dash for the exist dodging pieces of the collapsing castle as he went only to find himself falling deeper into the mountain freefalling into the darkness looking for anything to jam his sword into to slow his descent finally finding purchase in the side of the mountain his blade slicing through the stone slowing his fall until he hit the ground somewhat hard rolling to absorb most of the impact.

Yuuki brushed himself off as he looked about the new area looking for signs of Salem and hoping he was alive he was distracted and startled by the bellow of "ASPHYRA!!!!" that seemed to come from all directions at once  making Yuuki wonder what kind of demon they had awoken that could move an entire mountain and this worried Yuuki cause Asphyra had been strong but this felt like they were about to fight a literal god and Yuuki was not sure if that was something even he was ready for or strong enough to take on even with Salem's assistance, if he was alive that its and Yuuki was not sure of his companions status currently as it was pitch black in the chamber he was in and Yuuki dared not speak since he did not know what other creatures existed down here with him that might see him as potential prey.

Yuuki slowly traversed the dark his left hand against the wall of the mountain which seemed to be heating up as he walked while also using it for support so he did not stumble due to the mountain still violently shaking and had a hard time standing let alone walking with the mountain shifting as much as it was with out the support of the wall. Yuuki rounded what he thought was a bend in the mountain to see a red glow coming from further up ahead. Yuuki crept slowly towards the glow to allow his eyes to adjust to the since he had been in total darkness for a bit and did not wish to outright blind himself. The path Yuuki followed opened up into what appeared to be a massive cave complex with magma flowing all about "SALEM!" Yuuki shouted wondering if he was near by as he spotted a gigantic golem looking thing that happened to look his way when he had shouted Salem's name 'Well fuck me.' Yuuki thought as he had yet again done something foolish and could only hope to hold out against what ever that was until Salem found him "YOU! YOU KILLED MY ASPHYRA!" The monstrous golem bellowed as it charged albeit slowly which Yuuki was nimble enough to dodge until pillars came from all sides around Yuuki as he kicked off and dodged them.

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A feeling of foreboding started to well up inside of Salem. It was like a dam that was starting to build up. It was making Salem nervous in a way that was also filling him with excitement. This was going to prove to be the actual fight and no holding back battle. The fact that Salem was starting to feel it was the factor that made his wings pop out. Salem was starting to go all out before even seeing the enemy in question. When the time came to fight, Salem would be able to throw hands to the best of his ability. He even used some more mana to cast a small healing spell, trying to heal up as much damage to the duo as he could.

“What happens now is I suggest you be ready to fight for your life.” Salem thought about it oddly for a second before adding in. “The husband is a lot worse than the wife we just fought. In fact he makes her seem like a warm and pleasant afternoon.” Salem answered it as easily and quickly as he could. He wanted to increase Yuuki’s chances of living as much as he could. In the end the man could not make it. Salem could only blame Sleeping Calamity for sending someone that could not handle such dangerous things. “If you find yourself unable to hold on. I suggest you run. Running and surviving would be your best bet.” Salem spoke as he was filled with power. Allowing himself to be in his true form was filling him with power. A power that was so strong it was even spilling out around him. Giving Yuuki a tide of strength as well.

The fact that Salem started to hover as the ground rumbled made Yuuki’s exclamation to run a bit surprising. Salem had not noticed the ground was shaking. It was crumbling apart as the castle started to fall. Salem started to fly towards the door. It was unfortunate that he was rusty when it came to his ability to make aerial maneuvers. Salem wanted to do a barrel roll when he was hit by a piece of roof. He started to roll but not in the direction that he wanted. Salem started to find himself rolling downwards. It was an unpleasant feeling. Underneath the mountain was more of the domain of his enemy. If Yuuki could not keep up then their chances of winning were getting slimmer by the second. Salem tried to right himself before another rock struck him, making him fall deeper underground. Salem was so busy trying not to be crushed he neglected the fact that he had actually lost track of Yuuki. If the man made it out alive or not would be up to fate as far as he was concerned. It was the last thought Salem had as he hit the ground blacking out for a split second.

When Salem managed to gather himself together he realized how boned he could be at the moment. He was underground in a tunnel that did not seem very natural. Salem could feel heat on his skin. It was making him feel dryer than he was comfortable with. To him it indicated that he was even in more danger. His wings turned rigged hard from the thought of what was gonna happen. He looked around better, not even phased by the fact that it was pitch black. Seeing through darkness was still not an issue. That showed that the darkness was at least natural and not magically inclined to block his sight, which was a rare but not unheard of occurrence. When he did look to see a way out, Salem noticed a river. It was a river of magma. Not the type of river that he was normally fond of but it was something. Salem flew above it and started to follow it.

Salem followed the river till he made it to a large lava pool. The heat from the pool was so sweltering that Salem had to envelop himself in water armor. That was the only way to keep himself from faltering. He was even starting to get bored. When he lost track of Yuuki he felt bad but he did not think that getting trapped underneath the ground and roasted to death was the way he wanted to go. He would have no extra thoughts about leaving if he could. Salem was wondering which direction to go when he heard a rumbling yell. Salem looked at the tunnel and river it came from. He shot down the way quickly going towards the source of the shout like it was his last life line. Which it could partially be called that. He would be too bored to last underneath the ground if he could not find something exciting to get himself into.

Salem could see the finish line before he could get there. It looked like Yuuki was being barreled towards. Salem waved his staff along the ground. It caused a curtain of water to show up between the two. One that the large golem like man ran into. It causes the spell to hit the hot ground and steam up. Making the place even worse. Salem reached the end and cast a spell on Yuuki. It was a weaker armor spell again. It would allow him to heal up as well as deal with some discomfort that the environment was granting him. “Sorry, It seemed like I was a bit further ahead or behind. I suggest you find a way out of this place, I’ll deal with the big bad and ugly here.” Salem said as he lightly landed and touched the ground with his foot. From where he landed scores of greenery started to build in the underground environment. “Follow the signs to find the greenest routes. That should at least lead us above ground.” Those were the only words Salem managed to get out as he was under attack.

From where he had alighted to before, a sharp stone pillar rose from the ground. Then one came from the side of him. Salem sprinted in the air, letting his wings and three directional movements do the dodging for him. Salem fluttered along the air as if he was a graceful butterfly. Heading towards the sneering Terraoxis. “Round two buddy! Let’s see if I can make sure you cease to breathe as well. Seeing as how your wife was toxic, you should not mind joining her in oblivion.” Salem did not do that bout of trash talk well. It was a tad bit surprising that it managed to enrage Terraoxis. The big oaf threw out a punch with his raspy voice yelling “Die!” Salem met the Golems' punch with a punch of his own. The force of which made Salem stagger back an inch but Terraoxis had taken more of the damage.

The eyes of Salem were glowing in his blue and gold galaxy swirling pattern. When he had seen Terraoxis he had already seen the difference in the ability between the two. When he cast the Blossom of creation earlier he made sure it debuffed Terraoxis, gave himself a buff to strength, and had even given Yuuki a buff in speed. That way the man could at least sneak away or do anything with a lot more ease. Salem was having a hard time as he was not one made to battle alone but he was still holding his own. “Is that the best you can do?” Salem asked Terraoxis in a teasing tone. The golem Yokai made another smirk, Then spikes of rocks started to jutt out from his body. It looked like the monster was turning into an overly large rock porcupine. Salem could not get the idea of Asphyra getting her bed rocked in more ways than one. It was an image that slightly distracted him. It was odd because of the fact that Salem was distracted; he did not notice that he was faltering.

To those that could see Salem from the outside. They would see that he had an odd glow to himself. It was the fact that Terraoxis was using a psychic attack. Salem did not bother to cleanse himself in time. The large slab of rock that hit him like a carriage was enough to do it. Salem hit the ground and started to roll. He could feel the pain throughout his body from the force of the impact. The previous exchange put them both on the backfoot with Terraoxis taking more damage. This time it was only him feeling the pain from that impact. “Okay. That was a neat trick and it was moderately painful. I guess I should be giving it my all if I want to come out on top.” Salem waved his staff and sent out a retaliatory crescent shape ridge of water. It weaved through the rocks cutting them down.

Terraoxis was a lot more nimble than Salem would have thought before. The turning point in the battle came from when Salem swung his staff upwards. This time he managed to smack Terraoxis right in the chin. This time it was more of a personal thing. Giving damage in return for what he had gotten before. This time Salem put a smirk on his face before he followed it up with a healing bolt of magic. Trying his best to finish off the yokai while it was done. Salem did not see how Terraoxis had hit the ground, it opened a magic circle above his head. That made rocks tumble from above. It was similar to the ones that knocked him out of the sky before. Salem could only exchange damage between the two of them in that instance, making Salem only barely coming out on top. He managed to get damaged a little bit. The difference this time comes in the fact that Salem’s armor repaired some damage that happened to him. It did not look like the armor Terraoxis was able to do the same. When it came to damage output Salem was able to resist Terraoxis magical stuff a bit due to his fae like nature. The same could not be said for the damage that he was throwing to Terraoxis. The yokai was taking it all to face. It could have possibly resisted similar damage from another, but from someone like Salem who did it all flatly. He was starting to take a toll on him. Not that Salem was coming out easy either.

“Looks like we will have to end this playtime soon.” Salem said loudly but more to himself. He was having fun but he could not sustain his form forever. It was rejected to an extent by the laws of the world, so the mana consumption on it was pretty large. He could fly and be more free but his mana was not limitless. If he did not end this fight before it ran out. He would be a sitting duck and a dead fae. Salem got back up and exchanged glances with Terraoxis. He was not able to understand the full extent of what was going on behind the yokai’s eyes, but he could feel the thing was having a similar thought. The fact that the battle needed to end soon. It looked like without further decision, they came to the consensus that these next two exchanges would be the last of them.

With a mad dash from both of them. The fist of the yokai met the staff of a fae. A shockwave that Salem dispersed by rolling backwards in the air. He sent out a quick thrust of his staff without breaking a sweat as well. Terraoxis took the damage to the chest, he was a nimble rock but a rock nevertheless. His body was not able to make the fine movements that Salem was able to do while he was flying. The hit to the chest made him stumble and Salem was ready to end it. He held up his other hand in the shape of a gun, when Salem released the metaphorical trigger, the battle came to an end. The spell motion made a spell circle at the tip of his finger. It rushed out of him in a beam of green watery splendence. It carved a hole in Terraoxis. Giving the Yokai enough damage to come undone. “That was fun. It was a worthy battle.” Salem gave Terraoxis his due before going around. He made sure to vaporize the many pieces he could find. He did not want the guy to come back and start another round of fighting. It would be too annoying to have to find a giant rock all the time. Sometimes it was an okay thing to do. Just not something Salem wanted to make a habit.

When Salem looked around. He tried to find Yuuki. The fae was mildly surprised he could not see the young man anywhere. Salem was growing weaker from the lack of mana. He put his wings away to rest a bit. He would bring them out if he felt they were needed. For now he needed to start mapping and trying his best to find a way out of the cavern and back to the surface. That was a journey that took him more time than he would ever care to admit. When he managed to reach the surface Salem felt himself blackout from being tired. That was the best way for his body to recover from all of the fatigue he had gathered since they stormed the cast, and fought two different and powerful Yokai.

The fae was not sure how long he was unconscious. When he came to, he found himself in the village. He was greeted by the chief. He filled the old man in and was paid handsomely for his troubles. He was unsure what happened to Yuuki and his companion. Far as the chief could tell him they did not see him around, nor was a body reported. Salem simply filled out the paperwork that the man was missing in action. Salem had doubts that the man was dead. If he was killed from the aftershocks of the battle that would be on Yuuki himself. If Salem had seen a body or something he would have taken it with him. The other clue that kind of made him believe something had happened. Was the fact that the chief claimed it was not due to them or anything that Salem had made it to the village. From where he had popped up, he popped up on the edge of the village while he was unconscious. Not the place he had originally come to the surface to. That had helped Salem reinforce the subconscious belief that the man was still alive and out there somewhere. What he was up to was not his business and Salem did not wish to become involved. He simply collected his money, got together with Frosch and then went about his merry way.

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