If I May Shed Away My Burden Now

General Summary

Almost immediately after the Retrievers arrived, Izanami herself appeared, drawn by the death of Hiruko. Seeing her last son dead, Izanami flew into a rage, and attacked the group, killing Honoka and the captive Si-Xiong in the process. Knowing that defeating her would be impossible, Izanagi used his 9th-spell slot to teleport the group back to the vicinity of the Sunken City. While they rested, they hid Hiruko's amulet in a demiplane and used Benkei's remaining stardust to return Niktaor to normal and began trekking back to the city.   Upon returning, they found that Sayuri was being held prisoner, though no one explained why. During their long rest, Benkei saw a vision of the moment Izanami abandoned Izanagi in Yomi, and also succeeded in awakening Onikiri. With Hiruko defeated, Susanoo was able to send an avatar to the camp bearing news of Izanami's movements. Gathering the Daimyo, Susanoo projected an image of her dark city carving its way across Yomi, estimating that it would reach them in 5 days. The Daimyo agreed that the best option would be to remain in the city and defend it rather than attempting to flee across Yomi.   They returned to their Instant Fortress and began thinking about how to find Laxius and recover Kagutsuchi's amulet from him. While Niktaor and Genji rested, Tao-Ren visited, wanting to see Conradus. After a moment alone with him, she departed and it was then that Benkei realized that it had been Laxius in disguise. Taking Conradus' corpse and replacing it with Sora's, he'd left a message with instructions to meet him in the Undying Peaks through the lair of a Bebilith named Nyarlis where he would exchange Iho and Conradus for their half of the amulet.   Upon learning of this deception and appalled by their idiocy once again, Tao-Ren flew into a rage and ordered the group to remain in the city under house arrest until she called for them. Almost immediately after returning to the fortress, they conspired to sneak away and pursue Laxius, plane-shifting to the Undying Peaks.