"By my Command Seal, I order thee..."
"Saber... slaughter every Master and Servant on this field!!"
"Kill them all!!"
Toga ground his teeth, his hand trembling as it reached for the hilt of [So'unga]. His eyes were wide, the pupils constricted into needle-points as he fought against the phantom weight of the command.
"Get back! Move!!"
Rikuo, still on one knee, was the first to realize the danger. He screamed the warning at Inuyasha and Moroha, his voice cracking with urgency.
"Moroha!"
Inuyasha didn't hesitate. He lunged forward, sweeping his daughter into his arms and twisting his body mid-air to shield her. But he wasn't fast enough to escape the reach of a legendary blade.
SHHH-TICK!
A spray of crimson mist painted the stone floor as a gash opened across Inuyasha's back. He landed hard, skidding several feet before coming to a stop, his blood staining Moroha's red robe.
"Dad!!"
Moroha stared at the blood on her hands, her voice a shrill note of terror.
"Inuyasha!!" Kagome cried out, her hands flying to her mouth.
"Kirinmaru... you...!"
Toga looked up, his gaze locking onto the figure silhouetted against the dark sky. He knew exactly where the other demon lord had been. Naraku and the Shikon Jewel hadn't been fighting him; they had been "processing" him, trapping him within the Jewel's internal dimension until the perfect moment for betrayal.
"I wondered why a warrior of your caliber hadn't secured a single Dragon Ball yet," Kirinmaru said, his voice cold and devoid of pity as he looked down from the ridge.
"Now I see the truth."
"You couldn't bring yourself to strike at your own blood, despite them being participants in this war."
The right hand of the Eastern King was raised, the crimson glyphs on his skin throbbing with a sickly light.
'This is impossible...'
'How does he have so many [Command Seals]?'
Both Rikuo and Kagome stared at the man's arm, their breath catching. The markings didn't just cover his hand; they wound up his wrist like a series of bloody vines. At least seven distinct Seals were visible.
"I told you once before... never bring children to a battlefield," Kirinmaru continued, ignoring their shock.
"But these children chose to enter the fray. They are combatants now, and that changes everything."
"If you lack the heart to do what is necessary, Saber... then I shall simply force your hand."
Kirinmaru didn't care that he had already burnt through two of his Seals. To him, they were just another resource.
It was no wonder Naraku and the spirit of the Jewel had been so "generous" in handing over these commands. They wanted to turn the Great Dog Demon into their ultimate executioner.
While the manipulation was transparent and deeply distasteful, Kirinmaru found it served his purposes. He had no intention of allowing Toga to stand in his way when the time came to claim the Dragon Balls.
"No... you can't keep fighting, Inuyasha!"
Kagome grabbed Moroha and pulled her close, her eyes fixed on the ragged wound on Inuyasha's back.
The group was in ruins. Moroha and Rikuo were drained of energy; Kikyo and Akame were unconscious; even her own leg was useless after the Jewel's attack. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha were battered, their stamina near zero.
To face two Demon Lords in this state was a death sentence.
Kagome realized now the true depth of Naraku's trap. They had bled themselves white fighting Muzan, and now the real threat had arrived to harvest whatever remained.
"You bastard! Kirinmaru!!" Moroha shouted, her small fists clenched.
But Kirinmaru didn't even acknowledge the half-demon girl.
"Hoh..."
"Even with two [Command Seals] driving you, you can still resist your own arm?"
"Your existence as an Heroic Spirit has certainly surpassed the limits of your former life."
Kirinmaru watched as Toga's blade began to vibrate, the demon king's muscles corded with the effort of fighting the magical suggestion. His blade was aimed at Inuyasha, but it was moving in slow, jagged increments as he wrestled for control.
CLANG-GA!!
A sudden rush of silver movement intercepted the falling blade.
"Sesshomaru..."
The Lord of the Western Lands was standing his ground, his bare hand pressed against the flat of Toga's sword. He was being driven back, his boots carving deep furrows in the earth, but he didn't yield.
"Kirinmaru... for this insult to my father, you will pay a price you cannot afford."
"Hoh? So the cold son can actually feel rage, can he?"
Kirinmaru laughed, though there was no humor in it. He had watched the dog demon family from a distance for years.
To him, Sesshomaru was a gifted pup who had never managed to step out of Toga's shadow. He was a force to be respected, but not one to be feared.
"And what do you intended to do? Face both of us alone?"
"That is a level of arrogance I did not expect from you, Sesshomaru!!"
Kirinmaru drew his own blade, his aura expanding until it felt like the weight of the sky was pressing down on them.
"[Adamant Barrage]!!"
A cascasde of diamond shards streaked through the air, Inuyasha having forced himself up to support his brother.
Kirinmaru didn't even flinch. He triggered a sudden burst of demonic energy, the shockwave shattering the diamond shards into harmless dust before they could reach him.
CLACK.
"You would still fight in that pathetic state?" Kirinmaru asked, looking at the gasping half-demon. "A meaningless gesture."
WHAM!!
K-ZZT!!
A massive, violent release of energy from Toga sent Sesshomaru skidding backward, his hands smoking from the contact with [So'unga]'s malice.
'This is bad. Even for Inuyasha and Sesshomaru... this is too much.'
'The only logical choice is to retreat.'
Kagome watched the two giants--Toga and Kirinmaru--commanding the field. Toga hadn't even unleashed his full strength yet, and they were already being crushed. Kirinmaru was perfectly fresh, and his intent was clear: he wasn't here to talk.
"Kirinmaru... you've prepared your soul for the consequences of this, I trust?"
Toga's voice was like grinding stone, the thickest note of fury he had ever allowed himself.
"Hmph. That prehistoric aura of yours is precisely why I want you on my side, Saber."
"And as for the consequences... I have more than enough [Command Seals] left. Once I gather the Dragon Balls and fulfill my desire, I would be more than happy to give you the duel you crave."
Kirinmaru reached into his robes and produced two crystalline spheres that hummed with a soft, orange light.
"What!"
Inuyasha and Kagome's combined shock was a palpable thing.
"Where did you get those?!" Inuyasha bellowed. One of those was the Star that Kagome had specifically hidden in her family's storehouse back in the modern era.
"Did you think these were yours?" Kirinmaru asked, his lips curling into a cold smirk.
"Hiding them in another timeline was a clever thought... truly."
"But the Shikon Jewel's dimension is a convergence point of all space-time. Once I mapped the coordinates of your scent, retrieving them was a trivial task for a king."
Kirinmaru tucked the spheres away, his expression hardening.
"I will make this simple."
"Out of respect for the Great Dog Demon's pride, I will allow you to live--provided you hand over the Dragon Balls in your possession."
"If you refuse... then you will have to face the combined might of both the Eastern and Western Demon Kings."
A second tsunami of demonic pressure washed over the summit, the air becoming so thick it was physically painful to breathe.
'This is insane!'
'Are these the Great Youkai of this era?'
Rikuo struggled to draw air into his lungs, a cold sense of powerlessness washing over him. If he were at full strength, he might have been able to buy them a few minutes with his [Fear] and [Mirror Flower].
But in this state, he was a spectator to his own execution.
Akame was still unconscious. Moroha was empty. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha were running on fumes.
The situation was terminal.
'We have to give them up. If we don't, everyone dies.'
Kagome looked at the unconscious Kikyo, then at the blood on Inuyasha's back. The choice was a jagged shard of glass in her heart.
The lives of her family... or the future of the world.
The decision she made was...
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]