Three days passed in the blink of an eye.
During those three days, scattered groups of external yōkai came to attack. However, most of them were merely rabble—low-level demons of little consequence.
With Kanade and the celestial maiden present, those yōkai could not even approach Hōraijima. They were annihilated before reaching the island.
As for the masterminds plotting in the shadows—the [Four War Gods]—they never appeared. It was almost as though they had abandoned any further attempt to attack the island.
On the plaza, all of Hōraijima's residents gathered around the altar. Kanade and the celestial maiden Kaguyayo stood atop it, while Satsuki and Kaguya stood among the crowd below.
Once again, the same three representatives of the respective races stepped forward.
At Kanade's signal, the human representative spoke first.
"Lady Kanade, excluding the elderly and children, there are fifty-nine humans among us. Thirty-seven agree to isolation. Twenty do not wish for permanent isolation."
"And the remaining two?" Kanade asked.
"Uh..." The man looked slightly embarrassed. "The remaining two have no particular opinion. They are willing to accept either outcome."
"..."
Kanade was momentarily speechless. Still, this was normal. There were always those who cared little for external affairs. Such people often leaned toward conservative acceptance.
Following the human representative's format, the large-headed wolf demon and the half-yōkai woman also reported their results.
Overall, those in favor of permanent closure formed the majority, but the number opposed was not small either. The ratio stood roughly at three to two.
Satsuki was not surprised by this outcome.
Since the method of handling the matter had already been determined, it would no longer be appropriate for Kanade to act. As an outsider, Satsuki was better suited to take the lead.
With a flicker of movement, Satsuki and Kaguya appeared atop the altar.
After sweeping her gaze across the residents below, Satsuki spoke decisively.
"Sealing Hōraijima is imperative. However, you will be given a choice."
After saying this, she looked toward Kaguya.
Understanding immediately, Kaguya made no visible motion, yet the space beside her began to fold inward. A black portal gradually manifested—a passage formed through the Kekkei Mōra technique [Yomotsu Hirasaka].
"This is a gateway to the outside world. Those among you who do not agree with sealing Hōraijima may leave through this portal."
After a brief pause, Satsuki added, "However, I cannot guarantee your safety. The world beyond Hōraijima has never been a safe place. Whatever choice you make, once you step through, there will be no turning back. You must bear responsibility for your own decision."
At the sight of the pitch-black portal beside Kaguya, the humans and yōkai who opposed permanent closure were filled with turmoil.
It was not necessarily that they truly wished to leave. Rather, they instinctively resisted the words "permanent closure."
Yet when faced with the genuine option of departure, most found themselves unable to relinquish the stable life they had grown accustomed to.
In the end, whatever the outcome, it was not something Satsuki concerned herself with.
...
As agreed, Kanade led Satsuki and Kaguya to the tallest mountain encircling the village. The true body of the Cauldron of Resonance was hidden within a valley there.
They passed through a deep and winding passageway. The farther they advanced, the hotter the air became. Within Satsuki's Tenseigan, a peculiar force grew increasingly vivid.
A noise resembling the rumble of an engine room grew louder and louder. Even the floor beneath their feet began to tremble faintly.
After passing through the tunnel, what appeared before them was an enormous object resembling a colossal furnace. The heat saturating the surrounding air radiated from it.
It was also the objective of Satsuki's journey—the Cauldron of Resonance.
Thick vines coiled around its massive frame. A stairway extended upward, reaching directly toward the blazing central core of the furnace.
Satsuki's Tenseigan carefully examined the Cauldron before her, and a trace of surprise appeared in her expression.
From her perspective, the Cauldron of Resonance was far from simple. Its internal environment resembled the high-temperature, high-pressure fission core of a planet.
In other words, the Cauldron itself could be regarded as a small planet nearing the end of its lifespan.
Based on that alone, it was clearly not something ordinary humans could have constructed. Moreover, within the Tenseigan's vision, a faint divine power lingered inside the Cauldron.
Kanade stepped forward and gently placed her hand upon it. Then she turned to Satsuki and Kaguya.
"Please be cautious. Activating the Cauldron of Resonance will cause a massive outflow of energy. Prepare your defenses."
The celestial maiden Kaguyayo had anticipated this. She raised the Mirror of Life early on and deployed a protective barrier around them.
As for Kaguya and Satsuki, neither made any significant movement.
Seeing the faint concern in Kanade's eyes, Satsuki said calmly, "Shrine Maiden Kanade, there is no need to worry about us. You may activate the Cauldron."
"Yes. Understood."
Seeing their composed expressions, Kanade wasted no further time. Turning toward the Cauldron, she began rapidly chanting an incantation.
As her chant echoed through the chamber, the tremors beneath their feet intensified. The surface of the Cauldron glowed red in an instant, like iron scorched in a blazing forge.
In the next moment, flames of extreme heat erupted around its exterior, long tongues of fire tracing along the patterns of the metal plating and spreading outward to every corner.
Rumble...
A deep roar reverberated in their ears. The entire hall began to quake violently.
Amid the tremors, at the end of the stairway, a gate-like opening on the Cauldron split apart within the inferno, revealing a sea of fire within.
A scorching wave of heat swept forward, instantly filling the entire chamber. Blazing flames burst outward from the Cauldron's core, while scattered sparks of searing temperature ignited the vines and plants coiled around it.
At the same time, a vast surge of energy poured into the Time Barrier in the sky. Within Satsuki's perception, the source sustaining the weakening barrier was precisely this colossal Cauldron before her.
"Lady Ihime, this is the Cauldron of Resonance. If you intend to reforge the Shikon Jewel, please cast it inside now."
Even Kanade, whose spiritual power was formidable, had to retreat from the intense heat and pressure after activating it.
"Very well."
Satsuki nodded. From within her sleeve, she withdrew an ornate brocade box and opened it. Just as she prepared to cast its contents into the Cauldron—
Suddenly, an explosive surge of demonic energy erupted from outside.
That aura belonged to Sesshomaru... and to the [Four War Gods].
Above the heavens, demonic clouds gathered. Three of the [Four War Gods] appeared simultaneously, and Zhuque—Kyōra—looked down at Sesshomaru with open provocation.
"We meet again, Lord Sesshomaru. Do you intend to block the [Four War Gods] all by yourself?"
Sesshomaru's icy gaze swept across the three figures before him.
"You call yourselves gods?"
Hearing the killing intent in his voice, Ryūra drew the Wind and Thunder Blades from his back. "What of it? Do you have a complaint?"
"Hmph. Laughable."
With that single word of disdain, Sesshomaru drew Tenseiga from his waist. His figure blurred into a chain of afterimages, shifting soundlessly as he launched a piercing thrust straight toward Ryūra, the leader of the Four War Gods.
"Excellent!"
Ryūra crossed his twin blades, striking after yet arriving first, intercepting Tenseiga's thrust.
As a yōkai carrying a trace of the Azure Dragon's bloodline, Ryūra's arms possessed strength and durability far beyond that of ordinary high-ranking demons, capable of erupting with astonishing force in an instant.
Yet even so, the absolute gap in demonic power meant Sesshomaru suppressed him with a single arm.
"As expected of Lord Sesshomaru, who nearly slew Kyōra and Jūra before. Your strength is indeed formidable," Ryūra said, retreating step by step under the pressure, though no panic showed on his face. "But this time, we did not come unprepared."
With a shout, the War God Demon Jewel embedded in his forehead burst forth with brilliant azure light. Under its radiance, his arms transformed entirely into draconic limbs, forcefully resisting Sesshomaru's suppression.
At that instant, Byakko—Jūra—seized the opportunity. Hoisting the Heaven-Cannon upon his shoulder, he fired directly at Sesshomaru's back.
Simultaneously, the blazing bird under Kyōra's control swooped down toward Sesshomaru.
"Die, Sesshomaru."
But what manner of demon was Sesshomaru?
He had anticipated this move long ago.
His left hand snapped backward, and a green whip of light lashed out, striking aside the incoming blast from Jūra. Its momentum did not cease—it coiled tightly around the massive cannon in Jūra's hands.
At the very moment Kyōra's burning bird was about to reach him, Sesshomaru's body became a streak of light. Following the whip's trajectory, he shifted positions in an instant, appearing beside Jūra and slashing horizontally at his neck.
"What?!"
Ryūra and Kyōra were both shocked by the speed Sesshomaru displayed in that split second. Jūra felt his scalp go numb. Instinctively, he abandoned the Heaven-Cannon, and countless tiger claws shot from his hands in an attempt to block the strike.
Boom—
Sesshomaru's heavy blow smashed Jūra from the sky into the lake below, sending up waves dozens of meters high.
Though Byakko—Jūra—excelled in close combat, that depended entirely on his opponent. After Sesshomaru seized the initiative, he could only endure passively. That he survived the strike was not due to superior strength, but because Sesshomaru's primary target was not him.
It was—
"Kyōra, watch out!"
Ryūra keenly sensed Sesshomaru's gaze and the terrifying demonic power surging around him. But Sesshomaru had already drawn his blade before him. Blue lightning erupted, forming the colossal silhouette of a dragon around him.
Then came a sweeping slash.
"Azure Dragon Break!"
In that instant, it was as though stars fell and the moon sank.
Dragons of lightning—some blazing, some frigid—roared across the sky at unimaginable speed.
Sword pressure and demonic force collided and surged through the air. Thunderous explosions and draconic roars erupted in a single, deafening detonation. Lightning and sword light writhed like serpents, converging upon Kyōra at the center.
The mountains surrounding Hōraijima trembled violently. Under the torrential assault of lightning, the black demonic clouds above shattered and dispersed. The lake beneath was carved again and again by streaks of thunder, its surface forcibly lowered by several feet.
Even Jūra, submerged within the lake, could only hide within the shell of Gōra beneath the waters to avoid being struck by the residual force of Azure Dragon Break.
"Flames of Amaterasu."
Yet Kyōra was no easy foe. Black flames—Amaterasu's Black Fire—rose around him, forming a shield of dark fire.
Lightning and flame clashed—two immense forces colliding head-on.
In terms of demonic power alone, the gap between them was like heaven and earth. Had this been Kyōra before obtaining the Black Magatama, he would have had no chance of surviving this strike.
But the black flames he now summoned carried a terrifying property. Not only did they block Azure Dragon Break—they fed upon the lightning itself, spreading and burning with greater ferocity.
In the blink of an eye, the sky filled not with lightning dragons, but with an endless sea of black fire. Even Ryūra retreated repeatedly, wary of being tainted by those flames.
Sesshomaru had not expected Kyōra's black fire to possess such overwhelming power. His brows knit slightly as he retreated sharply. Another force surfaced along Tenseiga's blade, and a distorted spatial afterimage rippled outward.
Is it time to use that technique?
In an instant, Sesshomaru understood Tenseiga's intent. Following the blade's will, he swung downward at the oncoming sea of black flames.
"Meidō Zangetsuha!"
A crescent-shaped arc of sword light tore forward into the inferno. Wherever it passed, the black flames were drawn in as though swallowed, surging into the strange blade-light. Streams of dark fire scattered wildly in all directions.
"You can absorb my Flames of Amaterasu? Impossible!"
Kyōra's face revealed genuine shock. Though he seldom used the black flames, he understood their might better than anyone—they possessed the most destructive physical force he had ever witnessed.
After devouring the black flames, the crescent blade-light expanded rapidly, forming a newborn Meidō in the shape of a crescent moon, buying Sesshomaru precious time to withdraw.
"It seems defeating them alone will not be so simple."
Even Kyōra alone, empowered by the Black Magatama, had become exceedingly troublesome. If among the remaining three War Gods there were others who had also received aid from the Lunar Palace, the battle would grow even more unfavorable.
The disadvantage in the battlefield was not only apparent to Sesshomaru. In the distance, Kaguyayo and Shrine Maiden Kanade sensed it as well.
They intended to assist—but Satsuki stopped them.
She cast a casual glance toward the direction of Sesshomaru's battle and said lightly, "Just ensure the safety of Hōraijima's residents. Unless absolutely necessary, do not intervene. With his temperament, he would not appreciate it."
Kanade hesitated. "Is that appropriate?"
"They are merely four minor demons. Consider it homework I've assigned him," Satsuki replied calmly. "If he cannot overcome even this level of trial, then dreaming of standing against the Lunar Palace would be nothing more than foolish delusion."