Gabriel... didn't answer. As Venus shot forward with her attack and held off the Chaos entity, everyone else took her words to heart and started leaving - everyone except the person she had singled out as her apparent successor. What was he thinking? Surely... Surely he wasn't intent on staying? She considered, as Nyx pass them, if he could possibly think he could help out here - out of all of them, he was the fastest. He had his sword and shield - was he thinking his sword could help them out? If he and Venus managed to pin him down, could he be thinking of the information they could get out of the chaos being? ... Would that even work?

Selfishly, she slid her hand from his shoulder to his bicep and started to pull. Venus... knew what she was doing. She told them to go after the crystal. Gabriel was fast and strong and they would need him to get the crystal with them. She didn't want him to die. She didn't want to leave him behind and risk his death, far away from where she could help. 

Not that she had been much help all the times before. 

"Gabriel," she whispered as the others got farther and farther away. "We have to go with them. Come on," she pulled, managing to haul him along. When finally he stirred, he flew with her.

As she turned, she made a wish that her healing would land, kissed her hand and blew the healing energy towards Venus.

Battle Round 4 wrote:

4  Xtal-Diamante has left the battlefield.
4  Bastet DEX+3 has left the battlefield.
6  Nyx has left the battlefield.
4  Chalybs Steel Defense: 7 has left the battlefield.
4  Valdis has left the battlefield.
6  Aegle uses Aegle kiss on Sailor Venus!
How much healed?
--2
--CTRL 11
--MP 1
--Affection -2
----Total of 12 5 points restored.
6  Aegle has left the battlefield.
10  Amarachius Shield out; Protecting Crysdal has left the battlefield.

Round 4:

DM wrote:

The Conscripted senshi head towards Planet Zhi, the green world growing bigger and bigger before them, their speed increasing, aiming for where their hearts pulled them, leaving Sailor Venus behind to face the threat so far above their own abilities.

Conflagration has ended.

The Event Concludes with

Consecration.

Battle Round 4 wrote:

15 General Zhao attempts to stab Sailor Venus!

Did it hit?

--6 Critical hit!

How much damage?

--6 Critical damage!

--STR 12

--WPN 2

--ARM -3

----Total of 17 points of damage.

General Zhao wrote:

"I'll hunt them down, you know," Zhao whispered as his dagger dug into Venus's chest. "One by one. Your sacrifice did nothing but have them lead me directly to the Tapestry Crystal."

They were leaving. Thank the gods they were leaving. Every single one of them. Venus was able to concentrate on her enemy now, and not worry so much about the survival of the group. Not that she thought it would make her odds be any better. She felt herself healing back to full health momentarily, and smiled as she mentally thank whoever did that to give her the best chance.

But the next second she found the general’s dagger buried in her chest. She couldn’t even scream; the shock and pain was so all-consuming that for a moment all she could do was be frozen by it. She could feel the cold steel in her heart and knew that her time would come. Gritting her teeth, she pushed herself away from him, not letting his words cast a pall of fear upon her. “The light always wins in the end. Besides, we have someone watching over us.”

She thought about the strange old woman, and wondered if she would interfere once more. She hoped so, for the group of senshi’s sake.

She twisted and turned, moved quickly so that it would be harder for him to catch up with her, and activated the communicator in her ear as she led him on a chase. “Jupiter, are you there?” she whispered into it, praying that she would at least get this much.

If she could just hear her voice one more time…

A crackle, a silence that felt too long, and then… “Venus? Are you okay? Where are you? What’s going on?”

“I don’t have time to explain,” she replied as she performed a loop in the air, graceful even as the blood trickled out of her, slowly draining her life force. “Just get me Mars.”

Her tone offered no room for question or protest, and Jupiter knew it well. “Just a second, I’ll try my best…”

She waited patiently, parrying and thrusting the Holy Blade, praying that she had enough time.

After what felt like forever, her familiar voice crackled in her ear.

“Venus? What is it?”

She sounded demanding, and that made Venus smile despite everything. This was all she needed. This was all she’d ever wanted…

“Rei. It’s good to hear your voice.”

“What the hell is going on? Are you in trouble?”

So grumpy, so bossy like always. It comforted her.

“When are we ever not these days?”

“This isn’t the time to play games, Minako.”

No, it wasn’t. She didn’t have a lot of time.

“I just called because I missed you.”

She twisted in the air once more, then attempted another powerful thrust toward her enemy’s stomach. Maybe she’d get lucky and hit something vital.

Rei always was her lucky charm.

As if the universe agreed with her, she landed a blow that actually seemed to momentarily pause her enemy’s movements. Venus smirked. “I’m totally kicking butt right now. By the way, have I mentioned lately that yours is cute?”

“Mi-na-ko. If that’s all you contacted me for, I’ve got more important things to do—”

“No, you don’t,” she said matter-of-factly, searching for another opening. “Don’t hang up, Rei.”

She might make it, but she might not, and she couldn’t take the risk of the latter happening before she got all she wanted to say out of her.

Rei was silent for a moment, clearly trying to read between the lines, and Minako could hear sounds of battle behind her. She was probably fighting too. What if this call cost her concentration? What if she brought Rei down with her?

“But if you can’t talk, I—”

“Don’t be silly. I can always talk when it’s you.”

Venus smiled, swinging her blade toward the general’s throat, wondering if she could nick an artery and make Mars proud.

This fight was not as much of a loss cause as she had thought. She managed to land a blow again, albeit not where she’d like it to be, and then even parried his next one. But she was getting tired. Her wound was still bleeding and her strength was running out.

She had to say it. Before it was too late.

“Rei, I’m sorry. I…”

Her next attempt to hit him missed, and she knew then that she was no longer as alert and as fast as she was before. She could almost see how his next attack would land, and she was powerless to stop it.

“I lov—”

The dagger stabbed into her stomach this time, and her words were cut off with a gasp. Her hand went limp, the Holy Blade dropping from it, twisting and turning in the air as it made its way toward the abyss below.

“Minako?!” Rei’s voice echoed in her ears, and she attempted to finish her last words, but she ended up obstructed by the blood that came up her throat, unable to utter anything more than painful choking sounds. She would forever regret that Rei had to hear this moment. She tried to raise her hand to the communicator, to perform one last act of love.

“Minako?!”

She couldn’t get it to turn off, so she snatched it away from her ear and threw it away to fall down, down, down along with her body as her wings went limp next.

“MINAKO!!!”

Mars’ voice from the now free-falling communicator echoed in the vastness of space, as Venus’ body finally gave out, her enemy dealt his finishing blow, and the golden senshi plummeted from the sky, a fallen angel, slowly turning into sparkling dust as her Sailor Crystal left the spent body to go back to where it belong.

Do you want some visuals with that: