Painting the horizon line a deep shade of black, while the clouds seem much darker than in the past few hours, the sun honors the saying: The darkest moment of the day is just before dawn.
Down below, in what can only be recognized as a plain due to its vast territorial extension, since it is now no different from a full-fledged canyon, two figures can be seen engaged in an intense battle of wills.
"What is happening, Asahiko? You have become noticeably weaker, extremely slow, and even easily predictable."
Circling the golden-haired figure whose face remains unnaturally pale, probably due to the various wounds scattered across his body and from which fresh blood falls to the ground, Sesshōmaru narrows his golden eyes.
His current behavior is no different from that of a predator that has managed to smell blood, except that he does not strive to finish off the cornered prey, but instead lets it weaken little by little while waiting for the right moment to deliver the final blow.
"Shut up!"
Half growling like a wounded or cornered beast, Asahiko makes a movement with Clouded Fang and a reddish ring-shaped trail extends in all directions.
Such an attack is easily avoided by Sesshōmaru as he jumps upward, although the true purpose of the attack did not seem to be hitting him, but rather it was masterfully used as a feint to force him to lose his advantageous position.
Now up there without any point of support, right where Asahiko wanted him, the latter unleashes several quick slashes with Clouded Fang and fierce flashes of reddish energy fly toward Sesshōmaru.
"Far too predictable and equally inefficient."
Twisting his body thanks to the white pelt hanging behind his back, Sesshōmaru easily dodges all incoming attacks and swings his sword, Tokijin, toward Asahiko.
From the hilt to the blade of Tokijin, a bluish aura extends throughout its structure. This is called Ken'atsu, a pressure/aura that only "true swordsmen" can use, very different from Inuyasha or Asahiko, who only seem to play around with swords.
Aside from that explanation, Sesshōmaru's attack this time is not released in the form of a large blue crescent moon, but instead comes as dozens or perhaps hundreds of micro-needles almost invisible to the human eye.
"Hmph!"
Driving Clouded Fang's blade into the ground when he sees what is coming toward him, Asahiko is quickly surrounded by an intense geyser of reddish energy and remains momentarily safe from the attack, although in the next instant a semi-solid whip extends mercilessly in his direction.
Forced to dodge because the protection was not as solid as it appeared, his sheet-white face becomes even paler and some wounds that had already closed reopen, twisting his face into a horrible grimace.
[I have an idea.]
"Another one, Souga? Is this one actually going to work?"
[How dare you doubt me! It is only because I am feeding on your negative emotions that you are still alive. I demand more respect!]
Raising his voice strongly within the mental passage that connects him to Asahiko as a demonstration, causing everything to tremble and nearly collapse, Souga smiles to himself upon noticing that the latter's physical condition leaves much to be desired at the moment.
Clearly, now would be the perfect time to take over Asahiko's body, mainly because the "natural" protection that always exists over his mind has almost disappeared, but as they say; The devil knows more because he is old than because he is the devil... So Souga restrains himself.
Taking over his body right now would be counterproductive, both because of the injuries and because of the current situation. Besides, Asahiko is someone quite "reasonable." Perhaps he can guide him to where he needs to go, and thus he could recover his original body.
But his entire grand plan depends on the next few seconds, on whether he can fracture Asahiko's "human ethics" and make him accept using Clouded Fang's abilities, especially the "Gate to Hell," which is the key to his possible plan to recover his true body.
"I had forgotten that you were a proud idiot, but I'm listening. What's your grand plan, Souga?"
[One very simple one that can get us out of this little predicament.]
"That's why it's called a plan, idiot. Are you going to talk or not?"
"Fine... It all revolves around the—"
...Elsewhere...
Outside the plain and within the remains of the forest that had once stood nearby, which was heavily damaged by stray attacks during the battle between Sesshōmaru and Asahiko, a very recognizable group can be seen.
This group is made up of a strange Inuyasha, Kagome who is pacing worriedly in circles, Sango observing the surroundings, and Miroku resting, in addition to the group's two pets; the little fox boy named Shippo and the nekomata known as Kirara.
"Untie me already, damn it! Dawn is almost here!"
Twisting his body across the ground as if he were a worm, a "strange" Inuyasha with black hair and human features, now even possessing normal ears, begins shouting at his companions.
They only look at him with eyes full of annoyance, which is understandable since ever since Asahiko had tied up Inuyasha to force him to leave before Kaijinbo arrived, the dog boy had been shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Is he always this noisy when he transforms into a human, Your Excellency?"
Dropping her precious boomerang called Hiraikotsu on top of Inuyasha, who by the way cannot support the weight and is finally forced to stop his tantrum, Sango exchanges glances with Miroku.
Being who he is, Miroku had two valid options. The first was to annoy Inuyasha, and the second... Obviously to annoy Inuyasha even more!
"Unfortunately yes, Sango. Although you can't say he isn't cuter now. Look at him without claws or fangs!"
Using his staff to push one of Inuyasha's cheeks and reveal his now ordinary teeth, Miroku goes even further and lifts one of his hands, which are now free of long claws.
He almost looked like the owner of a circus presenting an attraction. The only things missing were a tuxedo, a top hat, and a deep capitalist spirit... Although perhaps he already possesses that last one.
"...Actually, he's quite soft, Your Excellency."
"Really? Oh, he certainly is. I never thought his skin would be so soft in his human form."
"You bastards... How dare you—"
"That's enough! Doesn't anyone remember that Asahiko is fighting for us? Are we really going to stay hidden here until the end?!"
Raising her voice while kicking a stone aside with her shoe, Kagome finally stops pacing in circles and slowly approaches Inuyasha with firm steps.
She understood the reality of the situation very clearly. At the end of the day, all of them were merely extras. It was impossible for them to interfere in the fight between Asahiko and Sesshōmaru, so they needed to free Inuyasha, who actually could.
"K-K-Kagome?"
"I'm going to free you, Inuyasha. But don't even think about running off until dawn arrives, understood?"
"Sure, sure, I'm not a child."
Nodding several times despite hitting the ground with his chin—remember, he is lying on the ground like a worm—Inuyasha accepts the condition far too quickly.
"Inuyasha... I'm serious."
"Fine, although I need to be closer to them so I can help Asahiko quickly when dawn arrives, so someone will have to come with me if you don't trust me."
"I'll—"
"No, you will not, Your Excellency! I can see your legs still shaking whenever you look over there. You might not be able to control Kirara and lose sight of Inuyasha's human form. Those are dangers we cannot allow!"
Stomping the ground with her foot, Sango then throws a punch at Miroku and he immediately falls to the ground. Clearly, Sesshōmaru's pressure is not something to joke about, so much so that even a monk ends up with lingering trauma.
"Sango is right, especially about the Inuyasha part. Perhaps we shouldn't move him until—"
"Don't be sad about that, Kagome! I'll take care of Inuyasha."
"And what are you going to do, shorty? This isn't something your toy tops or flames can—"
"Transformation!"
Kicking Inuyasha's head with his little fox foot, Shippo, whose legs and tail have an animal-like appearance, causes a bright light to emerge from the ropes that had been keeping the former restrained.
After a few seconds, that bright light disappears completely, and the one left behind is none other than the "real" white-haired, dog-eared Inuyasha.
"Incredible... And he doesn't even have a fox tail like what usually happens."
"Or whiskers on his nose, Sango."
"How did you do that, Shippo?"
Being even more surprised than the first two, Kagome has spent more time with Shippo and knows how "unstable" his transformations are. She turns her shining eyes toward him.
"Hehehe, Asahiko and I have very similar energy, so I tried using it... But I could only do it when I was almost out of strength. Ahh, I'm very far from him."
"No, Shippo, this is more than enough for us. I'm entrusting him to you, Sango."
"Don't worry, Kagome. I promise he'll come back in one piece... Me too."
"Mm, mm, that's the spirit. Then let the plan to save Asahiko finally begin!"
Extending her white arm toward the sky, which is already beginning to be painted with soft orange tones, Kagome smiles with all her teeth, and even a sudden breeze moves her black hair, making her seem almost like a living painting.