"Haaaaaaaa--!!"
CLANG--!!
Cu Chulainn's spear slammed into the entity's skeletal ribcage. Even with his magical energy reinforced to the limit, the point only bit a few centimeters into the bone before being deflected.
'This body's defensive power... it's absurd.'
"Watch out!"
Seeing the black, empty sockets of the Jewel's skull begin to flare with a crimson light, Rikuo lunged forward, swinging [Nenekirimaru] at its skull.
THUD!
The impact rang out with a sharp, metallic sound, but instead of shattering the bone, the strike only managed to tilt its head slightly. Rikuo hadn't even managed to crack the surface.
SIZZLE--!!
Without warning, twin beams of high-concentrated energy erupted from the Jewel's eyes. Where the light touched, the world was simply deleted. The beams swept across the battlefield, carving deep, cauterized trenches into the earth that stretched toward the horizon as if a giant invisible scythe had been run through a field.
"What the hell is that?!"
"That's too dangerous!!"
Shippo scrambled back in a panic, ducking behind Ah-Un with Kohaku and the others. Their hearts hammered against their ribs as they watched the destruction.
"That abnormal youki... that malevolence... I've never seen anything like it."
"How can a youkai like this even exist in this world?!"
Miroku's forehead was drenched in cold sweat. He had spent his life fighting demons, but he had never even conceptualized a threat of this scale.
"He's leagues stronger than before. Is this the true face of the Shikon no Tama?"
Sango and Rin were busy tending to Akame's leg, their faces pale with worry.
"Akame-san... it must hurt," Rin whispered, looking at the clean, hollowed-out hole in Akame's calf.
"I'm fine," Akame replied, her voice steady despite the visible tremor in her hands.
But she wasn't fine. For an assassin, a leg injury was a death sentence. In a battle against a force as overwhelming as the Jewel, even a millisecond's hesitation in footwork would result in the loss of her life rather than just a piece of her flesh.
More concerningly, the Jewel's Presence seemed to be actively devouring the souls of the fallen demons nearby. Those who died in its vicinity would never find peace.
"Don't let that light touch you! Even with your youki or spiritual barriers active, it will bore right through!" Toga roared, lunging forward with [So'unga] and forcing the Jewel back with a massive, overhead slash.
CRACK--!
The rift he carved into the Jewel's chest began to knit together the moment the blade left the bone.
'As expected... mundane sword pressure and slashes are useless against this form.'
There were very few beings even among the legendary Great Demons who could simply ignore Toga's strikes.
"Sesshomaru!"
Inuyasha shouted as his brother ignored the warnings and charged head-on.
"[Souryuuha]!!"
Sesshomaru swung [Bakusaiga], a massive blue dragon of crackling energy erupting from the blade and slamming into the Shikon no Tama.
"Hmph. You never learn, do you?"
The Jewel stood its ground. Instead of being shredded by the [Souryuuha], the energy seemed to simply dissolve and merge into its skeletal frame, absorbed like rain by parched earth.
"No matter how much youki you throw at me, you are only feeding the fire."
The Shikon no Tama looked at Sesshomaru with a chilling disdain. Did he really think the same tactics that worked on Muzan would work here? It wasn't some weak-willed puppet or an experimental Caster.
In its fully unleashed state, its body could absorb the combined youki of a dozen Great Demons and still remain hollow.
'Trying to overwhelm it with raw power is unrealistic,' Kagome realized, her eyes darting between the fighters. The Jewel was too perfect.
'Neither my spiritual power nor Moroha's is enough to purify an entity this dense. How are we supposed to actually destroy it?'
With youki-based attacks effectively neutralized, the combat capabilities of the group were being severely restricted.
"Die! Sesshomaru!"
The Jewel moved with a sudden, jerky speed that defied its skeletal frame. A massive, bone-white fist swung toward the eldest brother's head.
BOOM!
Sesshomaru tilted his head to the side at the last possible second. The fist missed, but the shockwave of wind it generated left a jagged, bleeding gash across his cheek.
"Oryah! Oryah! Oryah!"
"Where did all that arrogance go?"
The Jewel unleashed a flurry of punches, its speed increasing with every strike. Even when the punches didn't land directly, the vacuum they created lashed at Sesshomaru's body, leaving shallow cuts across his armor and flesh.
"Bastard!!"
Just as another punch was about to descend, Inuyasha lunged from the side, [Tessaiga] flaring with crimson markings as he brought it down on the Jewel's arm.
SQUELCH--!
The blade bit deep into the skeletal forearm, the red youki of the [Fear] interrupting the Jewel's momentum.
"Hmph. Meaningless."
With a flick of its wrist, the Jewel backhanded Inuyasha, sent him and his sword tumbling through the air. Inuyasha slammed into the ground, a crater forming beneath him as he choked on the dust.
"Father!!" Moroha screamed, notched a [Sacred Arrow], and fired it into the wound [Tessaiga] had left.
WHOOSH--!
The arrow hissed as it entered the rift in the bone, its purification light flaring inward.
"Tch."
The Shikon no Tama grunted and immediately flooded the area with a surge of black malice, snuffing the light like a candle. Inuyasha rolled to his feet and scrambled back.
"Don't think you can run!"
The Jewel's eyes locked onto Inuyasha, the "beam" charging up once more.
"Hah!"
Kirinmaru lunged from the flank, slamming his palm into the Jewel's shoulder and forcing its body to shift.
SIZZLE--!!
The beam fired, missing Inuyasha's head by inches and carving another horrific trench into the ground. But the Jewel didn't stop. It twisted its head, the beam sweeping toward Inuyasha like a hot wire.
"Run! You stupid dog!" Koga screamed from a distance.
"Dammit, he's not going to make it!"
"Inuyasha!!"
The beam was closing in, and Inuyasha, still reeling from the previous impact, couldn't clear the area in time. Everyone watched in horror as the light reached for his left side.
WHISH--!
Toga's silhouette flickered past.
Inuyasha was thrown backward by a sudden, protective force, narrowly avoiding being cut in half.
"Old man!"
"Hmph. Lucky for you, you've got a life left," Toga said, his voice level.
But he was far from unharmed. His left arm, caught in the path of the beam, had been severed cleanly at the shoulder and fell to the ground, dissolving into motes of energy.
"Don't panic. Watch its movements before you act," Toga commanded, ignore the loss of his limb. To a Servant of his caliber, a missing arm was a setback, but not a fatal one.
He was focused on the puzzle.
The Shikon no Tama was demonstrating a horrific level of transcendence. It was taking simultaneous hits from almost everyone and remaining unscathed. If this continued, they would be picked off one by one.
"What's wrong, Sesshomaru? You looks quite annoyed."
"Are you angry that your father lost an arm right in front of you?"
The Jewel extinguished the beam and stared at Sesshomaru with a mocking grin.
"I see. You're actually terrified of Inuyasha, aren't you?" Sesshomaru said, his voice surprisingly calm.
"?"
"I don't know what kind of delusions you're entertaining," the Jewel retorted.
"Is it the power called '[Fear]'?" Sesshomaru continued. "The energy you haven't been able to analyze. The one variable you can't predict."
"That is why you are focusing everything on the half-demon who can wield it."
Everyone froze. Sesshomaru had seen what they hadn't: earlier, the wound Inuyasha had opened with [Tessaiga] hadn't healed instantly like the ones caused by [Bakusaiga] or [So'unga]. It had lingered for several seconds before the Jewel could suppress it.
The realization swept through the group.
The Shikon no Tama was near-invincible because it understood their youki. But it didn't understand [Fear].
The key to victory wasn't the strength of the Great Demons. It was the "unpredictability" carried by Rikuo and Inuyasha.
"No wonder the Shikon no Tama is being so ruthless with those two..."
"It's actually afraid of them?"
The group immediately reorganized, forming a defensive ring around Inuyasha and Rikuo.
The Shikon no Tama let out a cold, sharp laugh. "Ridiculous! Even if I don't fully understand it, what does it matter?"
"A pair of half-demons... killing me? You can barely scratch my arm!"
"I only have to move my eyes to delete them from existence."
"This is the reality of our 'strength'! You are all nothing but ants beneath the gaze of a god!"
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]