"Hm?"
The Shikon no Tama's brow furrowed in annoyance. It didn't feel any souls being absorbed into its core.
Something was wrong.
That last blast of shockwaves, even without a direct hit, carried enough condensed malice to vaporize any mortal or low-level demon caught in the fallout. Even with the spiritual barriers of Kagome or Archer, there shouldn't have been a way to resist that level of corruption.
As the black pressure subsided, the Jewel finally saw the reason for its failure.
Miroku stood there, his right arm trembling and discolored, his forehead slick with a painful sweat.
"He absorbed the miasma using the [Wind Tunnel]..."
"Tch."
The Shikon no Tama's frustration was palpable. It seemed the very techniques Naraku had left behind were now being used to systematically dismantle its plans. It was starting to wonder if its former host had been helping it or the opposition all along.
"Monk-sama!"
Sango rushed forward, her eyes wide with horror as she saw Miroku's arm, which had turned a dull, necrotic grey from the hand up to the shoulder.
"Hey, hey, hey! Absorbing that much miasma at once... you've really lost it, haven't you?!"
Koga's eyes were wide, genuinely shocked by the human Monk's reckless sacrifice.
"Moroha, help me purify it immediately!" Kagome shouted.
"On it!"
Kagome knew they couldn't leave Miroku like this; the corruption would eat him alive in minutes. He had sacrificed his own biological safety to shield everyone from the blast.
Moroha and Kagome knelt beside him, placing their hands on the blackened skin of his arm.
A soft, pink brilliance began to flicker beneath their palms.
"Looks like we have no choice but to go on the offensive," Cu Chulainn remarked, heaving his spear onto his shoulder as he walked toward the front line with Akame.
They couldn't afford to let the Jewel charge another strike like that. This time, they'd been saved by a monk's suicidal resolve; they wouldn't get a second chance. They were backed into a corner with nowhere left to run.
"Ugh..."
Jaken shivered, his hands shaking as he clutched his staff. If Kirinmaru and Toga were pinned down by the satellite beams, and Sesshomaru was the only one left to physically occupy the Shikon no Tama, they were in deep trouble.
He found himself praying--actually praying--that the plan Kagome and the others had whispered about would actually work.
(It's not enough... the volume of miasma is too high. Moroha and I can't handle this alone.)
Watching Miroku's life-force slowly ebb away, Kagome felt a surge of panic. If it were standard demon energy, she could have purified it in a heartbeat, but the Shikon no Tama's concentrated malice was of a different order of magnitude entirely. Even with Moroha helping, they were being overwhelmed.
"A futile effort," the Shikon no Tama mocked, its voice carrying a cold, biting amusement. "Do you really think you can save him from my corruption?"
"Ridiculous!"
It watched their struggle with a cynical glee. Unless the original Miko Kikyo were to crawl out of her grave and join them, there was no way a mere two priestesses could save the man from the void he had invited into his veins.
SLICE--!
C-CRACK--!!
The sound of bone being severed rang through the air. The Shikon no Tama whirled its head around to face the source of the attack.
"Whether our efforts are futile is not for a thing like you to decide," Sesshomaru said, his voice as cold and sharp as the edge of [Bakusaiga].
To Sesshomaru, an entity that survived solely through parasitic theft and opportunistic consumption had no right to judge the resolve of those who stood against it.
"Hmph. And what exactly do you think you can achieve?"
The Jewel's empty eye-sockets were pits of shadow. The severed bones of its neck knitted back together instantly as it stared at Sesshomaru with a chilling disregard.
"It can achieve plenty, you bastard!!"
In that split second, Cu Chulainn and Akame were already upon it.
Spear and blade flashed simultaneously, carving through the Jewel's skeletal forearms.
SQUELCH--!!
The bones shattered, only to reform in the blink of an eye. But before the Jewel could react, Sesshomaru was there again, his blade descending in a continuous, rhythmic blur of destruction.
"Ugh...!"
The skeletal frame was forced downward by the weight of the strikes. A torrential, non-stop barrage consumed the Jewel, keeping it too busy with regeneration to launch another eye-beam.
Nearby, Kagome and Moroha were pouring everything they had into Miroku.
"Kagome..."
Shippo and Sango hovered nearby, their faces etched with a worry that wouldn't lift. Kagome's eyes were wide, her pupils trembling.
She couldn't let Miroku die here. If he fell in this space, his soul might be devoured by the Jewel itself, making even [Tenseiga]'s resonance impossible.
She redoubled her efforts, refusing to let the grey necrosis spread any further.
(Mom...)
Sensing Kagome's desperation, Moroha pushed her spiritual output past its limits.
(If only there was one more person...)
(If only I were stronger...)
(If only Kikyo-sama were here...)
Self-reproach and a sense of helplessness bit at her. She felt like they were trying to empty an ocean with a spoon.
Touch.
Suddenly, Moroha felt a warm, unfamiliar weight on her shoulder. Another hand had reached out to join hers and her mother's.
V-V-VHM--!!
The spiritual power that had been depleting suddenly surged, flaring with a purity that exceeded anything they had manifested so far.
Moroha looked up and saw a translucent, ghostly figure standing beside them. It was a woman in an unfamiliar mix of miko robes and samurai armor.
Kagome recognized her instantly.
Midoriko.
The ancient priestess whose very soul had created the Shikon no Tama centuries ago.
'This is the heart of the Jewel... and Midoriko is here.'
Understanding the situation, Kagome didn't waste time questioning the apparition. She felt Miroku's greyed skin begin to flush with color as the miasma was pushed back by the ancient priestess's aid.
It was working.
They could save him!
Whoosh--
A collection of black shadows drifted through the streets of a modern city. Inuyasha watched as silhouettes of various youkai flickered in the alleyways, their eyes glowing with a quiet, observant intensity.
"This is the city where I live... Ukiyoe Town."
"It's also the territory where the Nura Clan has built its foundation."
"And I am the one who inherited the title of the Third Head from my grandfather and father."
Rikuo stood on the roof of a building, pointing at the shadows moving below. He spoke with a quiet pride that felt entirely different from the boy in the glasses Inuyasha had met earlier.
"The Head of a youkai family, huh? Can you really handle that as a half-demon?" Inuyasha asked, his hands tucked into his sleeves.
He didn't mean it as an insult; he knew better than anyone the kind of prejudice a half-breed faced in the world of monsters. To be a leader... you would be subjected to a level of scrutiny and hatred that most couldn't endure.
Not just from the youkai, but from the humans you walked among.
Half-demons were a bridge that neither side wanted to cross.
"It's alright. My father made a name for himself as a half-demon before me, so the clan doesn't have the same level of bias you might expect."
"But I'm not content with just maintaining the status quo. I'm going to lead my own [Night Parade of a Hundred Demons] and surpass him. I want to create a world where humans and youkai can actually coexist."
Inuyasha stared at Rikuo. He remembered their first meeting, when Rikuo had declared his intention to become the [Lord of Pandemonium].
He hadn't taken it seriously back then. Ambition was one thing; reality was another.
But now, he saw the look in Rikuo's eyes. This guy was dead serious. He was genuinely trying to climb to the top of the monster hierarchy as a half-breed.
"You must know that there's a chasm between youkai and humans that can't be bridged by words. Some youkai exist solely to devour humans... how can you talk about 'coexistence'?"
"The cycle of hatred exists... I won't deny that."
"But that's why I have to change it, starting with my generation."
"As the Third Head of the Nura Clan, I have set three rules for every youkai under my command."
Inuyasha pricked up his ears, genuinely curious to hear what a "leader" of monsters would say.
"First: No one is permitted to harm humans."
"Second: No one who abandons their honor is allowed to exist. Even if you die in a fight, you do not betray your word."
"Third: We never, ever lose our [Fear]."
"This is the [Night Parade of a Hundred Demons] of the Nura Clan's Third Head--Nura Rikuo!"
Inuyasha froze. The conviction in those words... it was something he'd never seen from a demon.
"It might still be immature... but..."
"Inuyasha."
"Would you like to try joining us?"
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]