Upon reaching this stage for the first time, you will be rewarded with the strongest armor in the game, which reduces the damage you take to one quarter the normal amount. Switch to this armor as soon as you get the chance. Then prepare for the final challenge. Remember that if you hold up on the direction pad, you can speed up the rate at which you travel through this stage. It may help to cut down on the amount of damage you take before you reach the end.
Sets of four bats will materialize on the screen. If you are using the 5-Way Stars weapon, you're best off situating yourself in the upper left corner and shooting down and to the right. Otherwise, you may have to move around a bit in order to avoid getting hit by the bats as they bounce off the sides of the screen.
Next, moths will appear on the screen and release tiny versions of themselves. They take a lot of hits to destroy and can be used by the bigger moths as cover while they generate more miniature moths. Again, you're best off situating yourself in an upper corner and shooting diagonally downward to remove as many of them as you can, while staying relatively safe. Consider moving corners if the one you're in starts to get crowded.
Next come sets of four red birds who fly across the screen as a group in a single direction. They mostly circle around the screen trying to collide with you. Stay near the top and shoot down at them as they loop back around to try and hit you.
The final new enemy are green insects that are similar to the red birds, except that they fly independently of one another. As they fly around the screen, they release several slow moving red bullets that are impossible to destroy and hard to avoid. You're better off continuously moving clockwise around the outer edge of the screen and adjusting your shots as you move.
Once you meet all of the new enemies of this stage, you begin to encounter each of them at the same time. One of each will appear in a group of four, and attack you in their individual way. This makes it difficult to adopt one strategy to attack all of them since they move very differently. Keep adjusting your position to where the enemy presense is low and fire continuously. A couple of times, the enemies may seem to stop, but they will resume their attack. The enemy won't truly stop appearing until you begin to see the components of the face that makes up the final boss of the game.
Remember to fill up on life and select the best equipment before you start this battle. You will not get another chance before the game is over. Hiruko is keeping Izanami held captive. It is composed of four facial parts: two eyes, one nose, and one mouth. The screen will scroll around independently of which direction you fly. On a periodic basis any of the visible facial components can attack you by stretching out multiple copies of itself like a tentacle. All the while, each of the four enemies from this stage will appear and attack. While the enemies do normal damage, Hiruko is quite strong, and any of the facial components can knock an entire bar off of your health.
Continue to concentrate as much fire power as you can on each of the components. Eventually, you will begin to destroy each of them one by one. After all four of the components have been destroyed, you're not out of the woods yet. The little figure at the top of the head, Izanami herself, will begin to attack you. Though she remains stationary, she attacks the same way as the facial components. In order to survive this fight, you must not get too close to her and move around continuously to reduce the chance that she will be able to strike you as she flies out in your current direction. Keep your fire trained on her as you move around until she is finally beaten.
Upon beating her, she will be freed and fly away. You will then proceed to the ending and the credits. When they are done, you get to begin the game over, except the entire world will be in inverse colors.
