A coordinated strike from both the inside and the outside.
It was an easy strategy to propose, but one that very few beings could actually execute. Without a specialized spatial ability, one would need a level of raw power that bordered on the divine just to chip at the fabric of a world.
"Are you planning to have Sesshomaru do it?" Kirinmaru asked, looking at Toga. "Even for him, tearing through the Jewel's internal walls would require a gargantuan expenditure of youki. If the battle is as dire as you say, a moment of weakness at the wrong time could result in a catastrophe."
Kirinmaru knew that besides Sesshomaru, none of the people trapped inside possessed a true space-cutting technique. [Meido Zangetsuha] and its ilk were not exactly common among the demon tribes.
"Besides," Kirinmaru continued, "blindly attacking from the inside isn't enough. Both strikes have to hit the exact same coordinate on the spatial plane. If they aren't synchronized, we're just wasting our breath."
"Actually... there is another person inside who can cut through space," Toga said, his voice calm.
The statement caught Kirinmaru, Inuyasha, and Kagome by surprise.
"Rider--Kagome's Servant," Toga explained. "His blade, [Nenekirimaru], was given to Totosai for repairs earlier. Totosai, being the eccentric he is, took the liberty of embedding a residual 'seed' of the [Meido Zangetsuha] into the steel."
"While it can't manifest a complete, circular void, it is more than capable of tearing a rift large enough for us to squeeze through."
A flicker of hope ignited in Kagome and Inuyasha's eyes.
"Then I'll contact Rikuo-kun immediately!"
Squelch--!
Rikuo had just frozen another charging demon in a block of spiritual ice when he felt the familiar tether of the telepathic link from his Master.
"Use the [Meido Zangetsuha]?"
"I understand. Leave it to me."
Acknowledging the order, Rikuo's hand moved toward the hilt of [Nenekirimaru].
"Is that Kagome?" Koga asked, panting as he pushed back a fresh wave of clones. "Is the 'stupid dog' alright?"
"They're fine. But they're having trouble breaking in. They need a signal and an opening from this side."
Rikuo looked at his companions, his expression turning serious. "I'm going to need cover. The technique I'm about to use is loud and taxing. The Shikon no Tama won't just stand by and watch me open the front door."
"Heh, consider it done."
"Go for it, Rikuo-kun!"
Cu Chulainn, Moroha, and Akame immediately formed a protective triangle around the young Master of the Nura Clan.
'Underworld...'
Driven by his youki, Rikuo felt [Nenekirimaru] begin to vibrate. The blade turned a deep, light-swallowing abyss of black, radiating a pressure that felt unrelated to demonic energy.
'First... I have to mark the coordinate for Master.'
He swung the blade at an empty patch of the sky. A jagged, crescent moon of pure shadow tore through the atmosphere, hanging in the air like a localized eclipse.
"What?!"
Above them, the Shikon no Tama, who had been trading blows with Sesshomaru, whirled around in a surge of alarm. Its multi-faceted eyes fixed on the black crescent with a mixture of shock and fury.
That half-demon!
How did he know the technique of the [Meido]?!
It couldn't allow this interference. If the coordinate was set, its absolute isolation would be compromised. Ignoring Sesshomaru entirely, the Jewel dived through the air, heading straight for Rikuo.
"You look a little desperate, don't you?"
Cu Chulainn stepped into the path of the descending entity, his spear raised.
"Get out of my way--!!"
The Jewel's wings lashed out like massive whips. The impact caught Cu Chulainn's spear and threw him backward with the force of a falling building.
"This path is closed!!"
"[Demonic Dragon Wave]!!"
Moroha immediately filled the gap, a pink dragon of spiritual flame screaming toward the Jewel.
"Tch!!"
The Shikon no Tama simply ignored the impact. It pushed through the spiritual fire, its focus locked on the boy holding the black blade.
BOOM!
A flash of black shadow slammed into its flank, momentarily knocking it off its trajectory.
"Annoying!"
"Ugh!"
With a savage backhand, the Jewel struck Akame as she tried to parry with her sword. The force of the blow sent her spinning toward the ground.
Slice--!
However, the distraction allowed Sesshomaru to descend. His blade once again cleaved the entity in two, but the Jewel didn't even pause to regenerate its limbs. It simply continued its descent as a flurry of particles.
Whoosh!
"Dammit... it won't let me get a second strike in."
Rikuo found himself surrounded by a fresh wave of shadow-clones. Every time he tried to focus his energy on the spatial rift, he was forced to dodge. He was being ground down by localized attrition.
"How's it looking, Kagome?"
"It's not good. The Shikon no Tama is focusing everything on stopping Rikuo-kun."
"It makes sense," Kirinmaru remarked. "If Sesshomaru and the others can't kill it, it doesn't need to fear them. But a bridge to the outside? That is a threat to its very strategy. It will ignore everyone else to crush those Servants."
The group on the outside stood in a tense silence. They had the location, but if Rikuo couldn't hold the rift open, they were effectively locked in a waiting room while their friends were being slaughtered.
"The only way is if someone on the inside can truly threaten its life," Toga said. "If someone can actually kill it--even temporarily--it will trigger a resurrection downtime. That would be our window."
"But who in there has that kind of power?"
The anxiety was palpable.
"Dammit! It's ignoring us!"
Moroha watched as the Shikon no Tama pursued Rikuo with a singular, suicidal focus. It didn't care that Sesshomaru was cutting it to ribbons; it was playing a game of priorities.
"[Bakusaiga]!!"
Sesshomaru's blade once again reduced the entity's torso to dust, but the regeneration speed was now at its peak. The [Bakusaiga]'s destruction was being outpaced by the Jewel's internal reality.
'I have to strike that coordinate perfectly... otherwise, Father and Inuyasha won't be able to connect.'
It wasn't just about swinging a sword. It was about resonating with the strike from the other side.
(Master...)
(Akame-san?)
Rin felt the mental call from her Servant and immediately responded.
(I am going to use that Noble Phantasm.)
(But... if you use that, you'll lose your humanity.)
Rin's voice was laced with a deep, maternal concern. As Akame's Master, she knew the price of the assassin's final trump card.
(If I don't use it now, we have no other choice.)
(Maintaining a facade of humanity while we all die is a luxury we no longer possess.)
(I understand. I will support you with a Command Spell.)
Sensing her Master's resolve, Akame stood up. She raised [Murasame]--not toward the enemy, but toward herself.
Squelch--!
"Hey!?"
"What are you doing?!"
Moroha and Cu Chulainn turned in horror as Akame drove the edge of the cursed blade into her own shoulder.
"[Murasame]: Demonify... Unleashed!"
Crimson, vein-like patterns began to crawl across Akame's skin, reaching from her shoulder up to her face and down to her fingertips. Even the whites of her eyes turned a solid, abyssal black.
A suffocating, malevolent pressure erupted from her body--a concentrated aura of death that felt entirely alien to her usual presence.
"This... is youki?"
Sesshomaru glanced back, his eyebrows raised in a rare expression of genuine surprise. To see a human suddenly radiate a pressure that rivaled a Great Demon was a spectacle he hadn't expected to witness.
"Ugh...!"
Enduring the agonizing pain of the transformation, Akame felt her physical limits being shattered. The final secret technique of [Murasame]: to abandon one's humanity and merge with the cursed spirit of the blade, gaining the collective power of every "Elimination" the sword had ever performed.
WHOOSH--!
She moved.
She was no longer human. She was a shadow, a blur of motion that defied the eye. In the blink of an eye, she was already behind the Shikon no Tama, her blade pressed against its throat.
(Impossible... she shouldn't be able to cut through my defenses...)
The Jewel's surprise was palpable. It had cataloged Akame as a minor threat, a mere nuisance. But now, it felt a presence that made its very core shiver.
SLICE--!
The blade moved like a hot knife through butter. With a single, silent stroke, the head of the Shikon no Tama was severed from its body.
The entity's facets vibrated in a voiceless scream as its consciousness was momentarily decapitated.
"What?!"
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]