"Strange... we should have been blown back to this exact spot."
"Why can't I see Sesshomaru or the others?!"
Inuyasha and Kagome, accompanied by Kirinmaru and Toga, had returned to the battlefield, only to find the area strangely deserted. The familiar auras of their companions were nowhere to be found.
"An isolated dimension."
"What?"
Kirinmaru scanned the surrounding atmosphere for a moment before answering Inuyasha's confusion.
"The Shikon no Tama possesses its own internal space... a separate reality."
"When Toga and I first arrived in the Western Lands, it managed to trap me inside such a void," he explained, his eyes narrowing. "It seems that this time, it has pulled your companions and those Servants into its core together."
The explanation sent a chill through Kagome.
'I see... that's why the Command Spell failed earlier.'
She realized now that the Shikon no Tama hadn't just separated her and Inuyasha to play mind games; it had been a calculated move to isolate them while it attempted to crush the others within its own territory.
"But if they're inside the Shikon no Tama, wouldn't Rikuo and the others notice something?" Inuyasha asked, furrowing his brow.
"Actually, it would be difficult to tell," Toga interjected. "For the current Shikon no Tama, constructing a landscape that perfectly mirrors the outside world is a trivial task."
"Especially when they are focused on survival," Kirinmaru added. "Few would pause to realize that the ground beneath their feet is no longer part of the natural world, but the interior of the Jewel itself."
Both legendary Great Demons knew the Shikon no Tama's strategy all too well.
"Inside the Jewel, the demons are infinite."
"With the Jewel having evolved as it has, there's no telling what kind of monstrosities it can produce."
"If they cannot definitively destroy the Shikon no Tama soon, they will be ground down until their energy is completely exhausted."
Hearing this, Inuyasha and Kagome were gripped by a sudden, sharp anxiety.
"Is there any way to get them out?!"
"The only way to end the space is to kill the Shikon no Tama."
"But clearly, that is no simple task. Our only option is to enter the space ourselves and lend them our aid."
Toga and Kirinmaru didn't say it out of a lack of confidence, but because they recognized that the Shikon no Tama now possessed the unique conceptual protections of a Servant.
"So, how do we get in?"
If they couldn't pull the others out, they had to break the walls from the outside.
"[Meido Zangetsuha]!!"
Toga didn't waste words. He drew the [Tessaiga]--his original version--and carved a massive, circular void into the air. The pitch-black portal hummed with the gravity of the underworld.
"This is..."
"Is that the technique Totosai mentioned?"
It was the first time Kagome and Inuyasha had seen the [Meido Zangetsuha] in its complete, circular form. They both stared in awe at the sheer void it presented.
"I originally intended for Sesshomaru to master this for you before passing it to your [Tessaiga], but it seems we no longer have the luxury of time," Toga remarked.
"Hmph! Who needs his help?! My [Tessaiga] is plenty strong on its own!" Inuyasha snapped, though his eyes were fixed on the swirling void.
He didn't want any favors from his brother; the very thought of "help" from Sesshomaru made his skin crawl. Besides, with the powers of the [Dragon-scaling sword], [Nenekirimaru], and [Murasame] already integrated, he felt his sword was more than capable of handling the Jewel.
"Kagome, was it?" Toga turned to her. "Once we enter, remember to maintain your spiritual power for protection."
"Eh? Oh, right! I will!"
Kagome quickly realized why Toga was reminding her. In this group of four, she was the only pure human. The [Path of the Netherworld] was not a realm where mortals could easily tread without constant vigilance.
Inuyasha scooped Kagome onto his back, and the four of them leaped into the heart of the massive [Meido].
'It's like being in the middle of space...' Kagome thought, staring at the swirling starlight and the endless nebulae of energy surrounding them.
"Old man, can we reach the inside of the Shikon no Tama from here?"
"No. From here on, we have to rely on Kirinmaru."
"Unlike me, Kirinmaru specializes in the manipulation of time and space. He was the one who located the Shikon no Tama's hidden coordinates in the first place."
"Then I'm counting on you... Kirinmaru-sama?"
"There's no need for such formality," Kirinmaru said, his voice level. "You are the Great General's successor; I take no offense. In fact, I have been searching for the breach since the moment we entered."
As the conversation faded, Kirinmaru's expression grew increasingly grim. He could feel that something about the space around them was shifting--as if the rules of the universe were being rewritten as they walked.
"Huff... huff..."
"Huff... huff..."
"What do we do? No matter how many we kill, they just keep coming!!"
Shippo, Jaken, and Rin huddled behind Ah-Un, watching their companions fight with growing desperation. No matter how many demons were cut down, the sea of monsters didn't seem to thin.
On the contrary, the numbers seemed to be swelling.
CLANG--!
Akame pushed back a demon with her blade, but her movements were starting to lose their clinical sharpness. She was already using one of Rin's [Command Spells] to reinforce her speed just to maintain the perimeter.
If this continued, they would be overrun.
"Honestly! Is this what they mean by ants taking down an elephant?"
Cu Chulainn, his torso bare and slick with sweat, flicked a winged demon out of the air with his spear. He found the time to comment, though his breathing was noticeably heavy.
"You still have the energy to talk, Lancer?"
"Heh, I can't exactly fall before my Master, can I?"
"You two are far too relaxed for this situation..."
"[Demonic Dragon Wave]!!"
Moroha cleared a path through the encroaching monsters. She had already released her restrictions and activated her [Crimson Yasha] state. However, due to the demons' ability to absorb youki, she was forced to rely on her [Demonic Dragon Wave] and [Sacred Arrows] to keep them at bay.
CRACK--!
Rikuo was using his [Matoi] to its fullest extent, his silhouette flickering as he tried to find a gap in the Jewel's defenses. If they didn't break this cycle soon, they were going to be ground into dust.
"[Wind Tunnel]!!"
Miroku uncapped the "black hole" in his palm, swallowing a cluster of demons before quickly resealing it.
"Monk-sama!"
"Don't worry, Sango! This is no time for hesitation. We use what we have to."
Miroku tried to sound reassuring, but the strain on his arm was obvious. His sutras and charms were simply not enough to stop this tide; the [Wind Tunnel] was his only option.
"Big brother!"
Kohaku watched his sister in a panic. His own skills were simply not sufficient to deal with this level of demonic onslaught.
"When are Inuyasha and Kagome coming back?!"
Shippo looked around at the fresh wave of demons emerging from the ground. If those two were here, maybe things wouldn't be so hopeless.
"Hmph. Heheh... they're never coming back."
"What?"
"This place is a different world. Not even a beast like Kirinmaru, who claims to command space and time, can step foot in this domain."
"I am far more than I used to be."
As if hearing Shippo's question, the army of demons spoke in unison, their voices a chilling, layered chorus of the Shikon no Tama's malice.
"Still no luck?"
"No matter how I try to tear the space, I can't get through. It's as if the entire dimension has been locked from the inside."
Inside the [Meido], Kirinmaru and Toga had reached a complete standstill. Kirinmaru had found the exact location of the Shikon no Tama, but the problem remained:
They couldn't get in.
"It seems that after the Jewel completed its form, its power surged. It has reinforced the internal space to an absurd degree."
"Breaking in from the outside alone might be impossible."
"Does that mean we're stuck while Miroku and the others die in there?!" Inuyasha growled, his hand tightening on [Tessaiga]. He couldn't just stand by while his friends were slaughtered.
"Calm down, Inuyasha. There's always a way," Kagome said, focusing her spiritual energy to steady her voice.
"Kagome is right. It's not hopeless."
"Really, Old Man?!" Inuyasha asked, hope flickering in his eyes.
"If attacking from the outside isn't enough, we simply have to get the people on the inside to help."
"If we coordinate and strike the boundary from both sides at once... then we might just have a chance."
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]