"Young man, the ability to layer another youkai's power onto your own... what are the prerequisites for activating it?"
Kirinmaru retreated to Rikuo's side, his gaze sharp and questioning. He knew that the [Fear] Sesshomaru spoke of was a potent weapon, but alone, it wouldn't be enough to truly end the Shikon no Tama. It could wound the entity, yes, and even slow its near-instant regeneration, but it lacked the finality needed for a kill.
What they needed was a "variable"--a fatal blow that the Jewel couldn't account for. And from what he'd seen, the [Matoi] technique Rikuo wielded was exactly that.
"The [Matoi]?"
Rikuo caught Kirinmaru's drift immediately.
"If it's necessary, we are more than willing to lend you our strength," Kirinmaru stated, his voice carrying the weight of a King's decree.
It wasn't a boast. Having witnessed the [Matoi] in action, Kirinmaru understood its potential. If Rikuo could fuse with the power of beings like himself, Toga, or Sesshomaru, the resulting strength would be nothing short of catastrophic.
"..."
Rikuo remained silent for a moment. He understood the plan, but there was a hurdle that Kirinmaru hadn't considered--one that made the idea currently impossible.
The conditions for [Matoi] were excruciatingly specific.
First, both parties had to possess the capacity for [Fear]. That alone disqualified most of the powerful youkai on the field.
But more importantly... there had to be absolute, mutual trust. A "meeting of the souls," so to speak. Without that genuine, unfiltered bond, the [Matoi] simply wouldn't take hold.
Even between himself and Inuyasha, the connection was currently too shallow. They had only known each other for a few days; while they fought together, they were far from the level of "soul brothers" required for a fusion of this magnitude.
"From the look on your face, it's not as simple as I'd hoped," Kirinmaru noted, sensing the hidden restriction.
"It's not impossible... but it will take time," Rikuo said, using [Kyouka Suigetsu] to blur his presence as he focused. "If we're going to do this, the only person I can realistically sync with is Inuyasha."
"Heh. If that's the case, then we have no choice but to try," Cu Chulainn chimed in, his expression relaxed despite the carnage.
The Lancer didn't know the specifics of the [Matoi], but he could see the reality of the situation: none of their attacks were doing more than scratching the paint. They had to bet everything on the possibility of those two succeeding.
"The spearman is right. I don't know what will happen, but it's our only shot."
Inuyasha looked at Toga's missing arm and realized they were just spinning their wheels.
"Tch. Having to rely on this stupid dog is annoying... but fine."
"We'll buy you the time you need!"
Koga slammed his fists together and stepped into the vanguard. His sentiment was quickly echoed by the rest of the group. Even Akame, despite her mangled leg, forced herself to stand and join the perimeter.
In the rear, Moroha notched an arrow on the bow she'd received from Kikyo, her eyes glowing with resolve. But before she could fire, Kagome pulled her aside.
"Wait, Moroha. Come here for a second."
"Mom?"
Moroha listened as Kagome leaned in and whispered a plan into her ear.
"There's a way to do that?!"
"Yes. Between the two of us... we can definitely make it work."
"I understand!" Moroha nodded, a new fire in her eyes.
SLAP!
The Shikon no Tama batted aside Sesshomaru's [Bakusaiga] and tanked a direct hit from Toga's [So'unga], its eyes narrowing at the movement in the distance.
It saw Rikuo and Inuyasha pulling back toward the treeline.
'Don't even think about it!'
It claimed to despise the two "half-breeds," but it was no fool. It knew they represented the only true threat to its existence. Inuyasha's [Fear] could wound it, and Rikuo's [Matoi] was a variable it couldn't quantify.
To the Jewel, "Unknown" was synonymous with "Fatal."
It leaped through the air, intending to bypass the forward guard and crush the two half-demons before they could stabilize.
"Not so fast--!!"
Koga and Cu Chulainn were in the air before the Jewel could even clear the first line.
"Hah!"
Claws and spear-point lashed out at the Jewel's legs, attempting to drag it back to the ground.
"Hmph. In the air... you're even slower than usual," the Shikon no Tama mocked, a cold amusement flaring in its eyes. Its pupils began to drift in their sockets, flaring with that same, lethal crimson.
"What?!"
Koga and Cu Chulainn's eyes widened. They had expected a single, directional blast. Instead, the Jewel's gaze "split," its pupils tracking them independently.
"Koga!"
"Lancer!"
The Twin Beams erupted. Both warriors twisted their bodies mid-air, attempting to avoid the primary trajectory.
SQUELCH--!!
SQUELCH--!!
Even as they dodged, the beams tore through their chests. Blood sprayed into the air as the light bored through muscle and bone.
WHISH!
Just as the Jewel was about to sweep its gaze and slice them into pieces, Akame appeared in its blind spot, moving on her one good leg with a speed that defied logic.
SH-SH-SLASH--!!
A blur of [Murasame]'s blade reduced the Jewel's head to a flurry of bone-chips in a single second. The beams flickered and died as the "eyes" were temporarily destroyed.
"Tch!"
"Hah!"
Cu Chulainn and Koga seized the opening, ignoring the searing agony of the holes in their chests as they threw themselves out of the trajectory. The gashes across their torsos were horrific, but far better than being severed in half.
"Hmph..."
The Jewel's head was already re-knitting. It turned its gaze toward the falling Akame, intending to pin her with a cross-blast before she could touch the ground.
"[Wind Tunnel]!!"
Miroku uncapped his right hand, the suction force catching Akame and dragging her safely back toward the group's center.
"That was too close," Miroku muttered, resealing the void. If their coordination had been off by even a fraction of a second, they would have lost three of their front-line fighters in a heartbeat.
"Lancer, are you okay?"
"Heh... it'll take more than a hole in the chest to put me down."
Cu Chulainn clutched the smoking wound, his regenerative abilities already struggling to close the gap. Koga, too, bared his teeth, the beast within him refusing to let the injury slow him down.
In the rear...
"Please... you have to give Moroha and me an opening."
"If it's still a 'Jewel' at its core, then it must still be susceptible to purification," Kagome pleaded with Toga, Kirinmaru, and Sesshomaru.
She and Moroha couldn't just fire blindly; the Jewel was too fast. They needed someone to lock it down--to create a "moment of stillness."
"Understood."
"We will see it done."
"..."
Toga and Kirinmaru agreed immediately. Sesshomaru didn't respond verbally, but the way he tightened his grip on [Bakusaiga] spoke volumes. He would play his part.
"Rikuo, what exactly do we need to do?"
"First... stabilize your [Fear]."
Deep in the woods, away from the immediate chaos of the front line, Rikuo and Inuyasha were centering themselves. The others were buying them a few precious minutes, and they couldn't afford to waste a single second.
"Listen to me. The prerequisite for [Matoi] is absolute, unfiltered trust."
"If you have a shred of doubt in me... it will fail. And in this battle, a failure means we both die."
Rikuo spoke not with the softness of his human self, but with the cold, imposing authority of the Night Lord.
"Tch. How am I supposed to 'trust' someone I barely know?" Inuyasha barked, his tail twitching with frustration. Trust wasn't something you could just flip a switch for.
"It's not a verbal agreement, Inuyasha."
"It's about whether you accept me. Whether you believe in my blade as much as your own."
Rikuo knew that explaining it was futile. There was only one way to bridge fifty years of history in ten minutes.
"It's too complicated to explain. I'll just have to show you."
Rikuo drew [Nenekirimaru], the black [Fear] swirling around his body like a cloak of ink. He whispered the words to his most personal conceptual domain:
"[Reality Marble: Night Parade of a Hundred Demons]!"
The world around them dissolved into shadow, and their silhouettes vanished from the Jewel's sight.
"Hiding in a Reality Marble, are you?"
"Hmph. Then I'll just kill everyone else first!"
The Shikon no Tama sneered. It couldn't easily invade Rikuo's inner world, which meant it couldn't stop whatever the two half-demons were planning.
But it didn't matter. If it slaughtered everyone outside, what difference would it make?
It turned its attention back to the group. Toga, Kirinmaru, and Sesshomaru were already converging from three different directions.
"I'll let you all die together!"
"Kagome's plan might actually work," Toga said, his eyes reflecting the gathering storm of energy in the Jewel's hands. "We just have to make it count."
"Lancer, get your Noble Phantasm ready."
"Done and done."
The group braced themselves. Even Sango, despite being a mundane human in this divine-tier conflict, raised her [Hiraikotsu]. She might not be able to kill it, but she would be the distraction that allowed her friends to survive.
"You're all too reckless!! And you're letting a wounded child help?!"
"What happens if this fails?!"
Jaken paced back and forth, his Staff of Two Heads shivering in his grip. He couldn't believe they were betting everything on a girl's purification and a half-demon's fusion. If the coordination failed, the Shikon no Tama's counter-offensive would wipe them out.
"Jaken-sama, please... let them focus."
"Rin!!"
Jaken looked at her in confusion as she pulled him back.
"I know you're worried about everyone, but this is no time for fear," Rin said, her eyes fixed on Sesshomaru's back as she prayed for their victory.
"True that. If we don't take him down now, there is no tomorrow," Shippo added.
"One chance..."
"Then let's make it a loud one!"
The Shikon no Tama's eye-sockets suddenly detached from its skull. The two glowing orbs began to orbit the Jewel's body like murderous satellites, trailing beams of light that forced Kirinmaru and Toga to weave through the air in a desperate dance of evasion.
"That bastard... is he trying to end this in one go?"
The youki in the air was thickening into a literal black sphere of destruction above the Jewel's head.
"Let's see how many of you are left when the world turns to ash!"
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]