Savestate is altered from frame 33357 of the published TAS. Once again I've edited it for demonstration purposes, changing the subweapon (address 015B from 11 to 13) and giving myself a few more hearts (address 0071 from 2 to 5).
As expected the axes make quick work of Death, saving 30 frames. This isn't fully optimized yet, it's just the first time I was able to get both of the nearby scythes in position to get extra damage. Getting them in the right place cost some time, and I had to pause a couple times to keep Death from flying off to soon, so there's still room for improvement here.