"Naraku just keeps getting more and more disgusting…"
Kagetsu frowned deeply, unable to hide the revulsion in his voice as he stared at the abomination before him.
Naraku's upper body still retained the shape of a man, but everything below his waist had devolved into a grotesque mass of writhing demon flesh. Countless limbs and tentacles twisted together in chaotic layers,larger and more grotesque than the form destroyed by the Reverse Four Symbols Sealing. It looked less like a body and more like a pile of corpses forced into a mockery of life, with a human torso crudely grafted on top.
The sight was deeply unsettling.
"It looks like he intends to let the poison weaken Sesshomaru further… then lure him into the center of that mass and devour him completely," Kikyo said quietly, her gaze sweeping over the demonic limbs carpeting nearly half the castle grounds. Even she couldn't conceal her distaste.
"Sesshomaru," Naraku's voice echoed, dripping with malice.
But Sesshomaru paid him no heed.
Instead, he lifted his gaze toward the sky, his expression cold and unreadable as he looked at Kagura.
"Kagura. Where is Rin?"
His tone was icy,devoid of even a trace of emotion.
Before Kagura could answer, Naraku cut in smoothly, "The girl you're searching for isn't here. In a place filled with miasma like this, she would have died long ago."
A sinister smile spread across his face as he turned his attention to Kikyo and Kagetsu .
"However… if you kill that shrine maiden and the man beside her for me, I'll return Rin to you safely."
"Hmph."
Sesshomaru let out a cold scoff, his golden eyes filled with disdain.
"Though I do wish to kill this human called Kagetsu … do you really believe I would obey your orders for the sake of a mere human girl?"
Before his words had even fully settled,
He swung Tōkijin.
A blade of condensed demonic energy tore through the air, slashing straight toward Naraku.
"Hmph. Already poisoned by the Ox Demon's venom,how much strength can you still muster?"
Naraku snorted coldly, casually raising a thick tentacle to intercept the attack. The blade aura shattered against it with ease.
Then he turned sharply.
"Kagura. Kanna. Keep Kikyo and that man occupied."
"…Understood."
Kagura hesitated for the briefest moment, a trace of reluctance flickering in her eyes,before she clenched her teeth and snapped open her folding fan.
With a sharp motion, several crescent wind blades shot toward Kagetsu and Kikyo.
"Don't bother with them."
Kagetsu didn't even flinch.
A skeletal arm of Susanoo materialized instantly, swatting the incoming wind blades aside like they were nothing. At the same time, his hands moved rapidly through a string of seals.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
Crack,!
The ground split apart as a massive wooden dragon erupted skyward, coiling through the air with a thunderous roar. Its enormous jaws snapped open, lunging toward Kagura.
"Is he actually trying to kill me?!"
Kagura's heart skipped a beat as she hastily maneuvered her feather to dodge.
The dragon's jaws snapped shut just short of her, the force of it sending a violent gust tearing through the sky. Her feather spun wildly before she managed to stabilize herself.
Hovering in the air, she glared at the massive wooden dragon now coiled around the watchtower, its head raised high and eyes locked onto her.
"…Unbelievable."
With Kagura and Kanna effectively held back, Kagetsu turned his attention forward.
"Let's deal with Naraku."
"Mm."
Kikyo nodded, drawing another Sacred Arrow. She pulled the bowstring taut as pure spiritual power flowed steadily into the arrow, gathering into a brilliant glow.
Whoosh,!
The arrow shot forth like a streak of light, its radiant energy trailing behind it like a comet as it tore through the night sky toward Naraku.
Naraku's expression shifted.
He immediately summoned a mass of writhing tentacles to intercept it,but these limbs, taken from lesser demons, were utterly incapable of withstanding Kikyo's purifying power.
The moment they made contact, they disintegrated into wisps of blue smoke.
The Sacred Arrow tore through them without slowing,
Just as it was about to strike Naraku,
A sharp blade of demonic energy cut across its path.
Boom,!
The collision between purification and demonic power erupted violently. The shockwave blasted outward, tearing apart nearby structures, dispersing the miasma, and shredding Naraku's limbs.
Though most of its power had been spent, the arrow still pierced through the explosion and struck Naraku's right arm,
Blowing it apart in a spray of fragments.
Kikyo frowned, her gaze shifting toward Sesshomaru.
The attack that had intercepted her arrow… had come from him.
"Naraku is mine."
Sesshomaru's voice was cold and absolute, his eyes locked onto his prey.
The next instant, he leapt forward, raising Tōkijin as he charged straight at Naraku.
Yet each swing of his blade was visibly heavier than the last.
The poison was already taking hold.
"I take it back," Kikyo sighed softly, watching him. "His personality really is just like Inuyasha's. Stubborn as a child."
"He's already been poisoned and can barely fight properly, yet he insists on handling it alone…"
"That's simply the pride of a great demon," Kagetsu said with a faint smile. "He's been threatened using someone close to him and manipulated by a half-demon. With his temperament, there's no way he'd let this go unless he kills Naraku with his own hands."
"You humans know nothing!"
Jaken immediately jumped in, waving his staff indignantly.
"Lord Sesshomaru doesn't need help! Even poisoned, he's more than enough to deal with trash like Naraku!"
"Oh?"
Kikyo cast him a sidelong glance.
In the next instant, she reached out, grabbed Jaken by the collar, and lifted him effortlessly.
Walking to the edge of the roof, she held him out over open air.
"Then why don't I drop you down there so you can assist him personally?"
Jaken froze.
Looking down at the ten-meter drop below,at the churning sea of dark miasma,his entire body began to tremble violently.
"S-Sorry! Beautiful, kind Lady Miko! With your boundless compassion, you wouldn't just let me fall to my death, would you?!"
Kikyo let out a soft snort, a faintly mischievous smile tugging at her lips.
"Hmph. Little demon."
She tossed him back onto the roof as casually as if discarding a sack of grain, then pointed toward the battlefield.
"Your Lord Sesshomaru doesn't seem to be doing so well."
Jaken's heart lurched.
He scrambled up and looked,
Only to see Sesshomaru already ensnared within layers upon layers of Naraku's writhing tentacles.
Though he continued to swing Tōkijin, shattering the encroaching limbs, his strikes were growing slower… weaker.
Defeat was only a matter of time.
"Sesshomaru!" Naraku's voice rang out, thick with excitement. "The more you use your demonic power, the deeper the poison spreads!"
A feral grin stretched across his face.
"Soon… your perfect demonic power will belong to me. Stop struggling and become part of me!"
Sesshomaru said nothing.
He simply gritted his teeth and continued to swing his blade,again and again,cutting through the endless tide of tentacles.
Each strike grew heavier.
Each movement more labored.
Yet not once did he show any intention of retreating.
"Oh no,Lord Sesshomaru!"
Jaken paced frantically, rushing toward the edge of the roof,only to stop short once again. His legs trembled as he stared down at the deadly drop below.
He wanted to jump.
He had to jump.
But fear rooted him in place.
He couldn't move.
"Little demon… do you want to save him?"
Kikyo's calm voice drifted over.
Jaken spun around, hope flashing in his eyes.
He had seen her strength.
If anyone here could save Sesshomaru,
"Lady Miko!" he cried, dropping to his knees. "Please,can you save Lord Sesshomaru?!"
Kikyo's lips curved into a faint, teasing smile.
"But just now, didn't you say I was a human who understands nothing?" she said lightly. "That made me rather unhappy. What should I do about that?"
Jaken froze for a split second,
Then immediately threw himself flat onto the ground in a perfect dogeza.
"Beautiful and kind Lady Miko! Please, I beg you,save Lord Sesshomaru!"