A Flame Burns in the Darkness [Night of Eternal Darkness/Izayuki]

Though his words were welcoming to her specifically, the Bakedanuki understood that he was not pleased to be here in another world, tricked by a pumpkin and a fog of darkness. Tricks were the mononoke’s forte, and being caught in one truly did injure her pride, even if she did not outright show it.
Her silver tail hung limply behind her, hiding from her lover, and bent at an odd angle from being crushed under the chandelier. Another aspect of her pride; her physical appearance and well-groomed fluffy tail, now broken and no longer maintaining its former glory.

This gala was out to get her, mentally. Fortunately, the anger she felt towards her insulted pride only fueled her-- she wanted to do what she could to survive the night, and soon find a way to get even with the ones behind the devious operation. “Just like old times, hm? I’d be honored~” she stated with a playful grin, taking his extended hand and allowing herself to be led out of the ballroom and into the dark world before them.

The World of Eternal Darkness appeared to be an autumn scene at midnight, with dead leaves crunching underneath even the lightest of footsteps. Eerie winds howled, dragging more fallen leaves and chilling mists in their dance through the wilderness. It did not take long for the slayer canine to pick up on numerous odd scents, and a strange glow just ahead. As they moved forward, their enemy was known to them. Two beings similar to Yaqtin, only smaller. Behind them were four fairies, likely aware of all the activity in the woods-- a hunt for their mystical candy.

An ambush, but not one that the two teammates could not handle. “About time they showed up,” Izayuki murmured through her smirk, eager to take out some of her internal anger on their confronters.

The Bakedanuki winced as her tail began to ache and throb once more. She would have to end this quickly if she wanted an ounce of comfort. “Got it,” she responded to her husband, who began to take on the Evening Sprites; fairies who had caught onto the swarm of mages here to steal their ‘Mystical Candies’. Were the beings like bees, eager to make and keep their sweets?

It mattered not; she was to deal with the two large floating pumpkin beings to arrive. They were not as large as the Pumpkin Lord from the gala, but still seemed large and strong enough to pose a bit of a threat. If they were not worth killing, she likely would have gently put them to sleep. With their appearance matching Yaqtin, however, and her anger being fueled by the pain in her broken tail, she was in no mood for sparing her foe.

Like hell was she going to break a sweat over these weaklings either. They approached quickly, swinging their scythe-like arms towards her. Izayuki blocked the blades with an arm, not minding the incisions. She would allow her black blood to come forth and be useful. As soon as the sharp limbs of the Pumpkin Knights made contact with her obsidian-hued blood, the blades began to sizzle, disappearing and melting as if they had struck acid. In response, the Pumpkin Knights screeched from the pain. Utilizing her Kurochi, Izayuki began to form a black scythe. Once it was formed in her hands, she launched herself forward, dicing the pumpkins into neat slices.

Perhaps she had gone overboard, but the feeling of piercing the knights was refreshing. Still holding onto her scythe, Izayuki scanned the area for the candies. Eyeing a dead tree, the Bakedanuki walked towards it, noticing a slightly sweet smell emitting from it. Inside of the tree was a hollow, and a pile of candy. A storage area for the candy of the fairies, and the X on the map for the two mages.

The hollow of candy must have not belonged to just the Pumpkin Knights or the Evening Sprites. Another creature of that murky world was quick to show its face; a grayscale being with what could only be described as an animal with a legless cat’s body, and two octopus tentacles for arms. The creature slithered down from the upper regions of the tree, down to where the Bakedanuki was breaking into the hollow-- its beloved candy stash, not so secret anymore.

There tree was filled with many Halloween Toads, all of them leaping down towards the thief. The Wizard Saint did not see anything harmful such as weapons or claws on their being, but she did not doubt that they either could use magic, or were poisonous. Normally any being that looked like a cat had fangs, too. Tired of the constant, and rather weak, displays of resistance, the Bakedanuki activated her Jabberwocky aura, which dissolved the slimy beings as soon as they made contact with the madness energy.

Breathing out a relieved sigh and pleased to sense no other beings in the area other than her husband, Izayuki grabbed two handfuls of the candy in the hollow, and watched as they disappeared upon contact, safely making their way into a peaceful dimensional storage space. Done with the task, the yokai followed her partner in silence, eager to make her way back to the palace of the gala.