What kind of power was that?
His body had been torn apart in an instant. Ripped to shreds like it was made of wet paper.
The last time he'd taken a blow that severe was when he faced Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
He could still regenerate, at least. But the panic clawing at his chest wasn't going away.
By some miracle, the impact had buried him deep in a ravine where sunlight couldn't reach. If he'd been thrown into the open, he'd have been finished.
"Who was that?"
His flesh knit itself back together at a frantic pace. Half his body was still exposed, clothes shredded away, and his hands wouldn't stop shaking.
Yokai.
What sort of creatures were they, to possess this kind of power?
"What is Naraku scheming now?"
Sesshomaru turned his gaze to Kagura, who sat perched on her feather overhead.
"How should I know? He just told me to watch this guy who's neither human nor demon. I can't make any more sense of it than you can."
Speaking with Sesshomaru, Kagura felt no need for pretense or fear. If he wanted to kill her, she wouldn't escape. Simple as that. Since there was no point in worrying, she didn't bother.
"Neither human nor demon."
Sesshomaru's eyes tracked the fleeing aura. It was receding into the distance.
"You're not going after him?"
"No need."
A creature of that level wasn't worth the effort of pursuit.
He sheathed Tokijin and turned away.
Only after Sesshomaru vanished from sight did Kagura realize something. The direction Muzan had fled in...
"Wait. That's where Inuyasha and his group are."
"Damn it! Every single villager is dead!"
"What bastard did this?! Was it Naraku?!"
They had stepped into a village bathed in silence. Not a single survivor. Severed limbs and bloodstains were scattered across the dirt like discarded refuse.
Inuyasha's fury ignited on the spot.
"..."
Even after everything Kagome had been through, the sight hit her hard. Her stomach turned.
Sensing her discomfort, Inuyasha moved in front of her without a word, blocking the worst of it from view.
"This is unforgivable."
Rikuo's fists were clenched so tight they trembled. Whatever creature had done this, he wasn't going to let it roam free.
"No, it's not just killing. They were eaten. And be careful. There are strange presences lurking inside every one of these houses."
Miroku crouched beside a corpse, examined the wounds, and snapped upright with alarm.
"Inside the houses?"
Sango whipped around, scanning the surrounding buildings.
GRAAAHH!!
Faint, inhuman shrieks leaked through the walls. That was not the sound of anything living.
ROARR!!
Kirara ballooned to full size in an instant. Shippo scrambled behind her, eyes wide.
"Not coming out, huh?"
Inuyasha could sense the restless stirring inside the wooden buildings, but nothing had attacked yet. He was getting impatient.
His nose twitched. No human scent at all. The heavy stench of blood had masked it before, but now that he focused, every single house was hiding something.
"They're not human! They reek of corpses, and there are a lot of them!"
At the same time, Muzan was resting in his makeshift base.
The terrifying enemy from before hadn't given chase. A stroke of luck he would gladly take.
"If I can establish myself in this world, I'll be reborn as something unstoppable!"
"Heheh!!"
The laughter spilled out of him on its own. The raw, irrational power he'd witnessed was intoxicating. If the beings of this world could become that strong, then so could his Demons.
He sat in one of the village houses, listening to the commotion outside.
"Humans."
He peered through the window. A group of strangers stood at the intersection up the road.
One in a dark blue monk's robe, carrying a shakujo staff.
One wielding a massive boomerang, dressed in something like a ninja's garb.
A harmless-looking young man in a haori.
A white-haired creature in red with animal ears on its head. Not human.
And a girl carrying a bow, dressed in clothing that didn't belong to this era at all.
"Perfect timing. The sun's almost down."
He dismissed them without a second thought. Running into that monstrous yokai earlier had been a freak accident. Bad luck, nothing more. Avoid the creature and there was no conflict.
Once he bred powerful Upper Moons, everything would fall into place.
"Kill them."
The shadows had swallowed the village. Even before full nightfall, the surrounding mountains and trees had blocked out the remaining sunlight. He'd chosen this location specifically because of that advantage.
CRASH!!
CRASH!!
Doors burst open across the village. The Demons had mobilized.
What Muzan saw next would haunt him for a very long time.
The figure in red drew a battered blade from his waist. In an instant, it swelled into a colossal fang-shaped cleaver, and the man swung it.
"WIND SCAR!!!"
BOOM!!
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!!
"WH...?!"
What kind of spectacle was that?
A hurricane tore the earth open and devoured everything in its path.
Every last Demon, including the few Lower Moons among them, was reduced to nothing.
Muzan's entire body trembled. For several seconds, he couldn't form a single word.
One strike.
One.
Everything he'd painstakingly created, wiped out in a single swing.
The sheer, unreasonable destructive force left him frozen even from this distance.
"What the hell? They came shrieking at us, so I figured they'd be tough. Turns out they're made of glass."
"That was incredible, Inuyasha-san! So your sword is a demon blade."
"Tessaiga was forged from a fang. It's a demon sword meant to protect people, you know."
"Shippo, shut your mouth!"
"Hm? There's another one in that room straight ahead. Smells weird too."
The casual exchange drifting across the village drained every last trace of amusement from Muzan's face.
'They found me!'
Before his seat could even warm, he was on his feet and scrambling for the exit.
This place was ideal ground, yes, but Muzan had absolutely no intention of testing himself against this group.
Ever since Yoriichi Tsugikuni had nearly ended him through a single moment of carelessness, he had made caution his religion.
That man with the oversized blade might not be as simple as he looked. There was no reason to fight a losing battle.
Without a shred of hesitation, Muzan bolted.
"HEY! GET BACK HERE!!"
"Hah... hah..."
At least the sun had set. He didn't need to hide from the light anymore.
"Damn it all!"
It had been ages since he'd been driven into such a pathetic corner. The great Muzan Kibutsuji, Demon King of a thousand years, reduced to this.
"But this changes nothing! I will succeed!"
"Demons of that caliber? I can make them by the dozens."
"Heh heh!"
Thinking about it rationally, he hadn't actually lost anything important. Just disposable pawns. His body was intact. His goal was still within reach.
A cold, confident smirk crept back onto his face.
Then he sensed it.
His head snapped toward the opposite end of the mountain path.
Standing there was a woman in red and white priestess robes. A young girl stood beside her. Both of them had arrows nocked and drawn, aimed directly at his chest.
The smirk died.
THWIP!!
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]