Drinking large amounts of the thick, black liquid that had mysteriously appeared inside the moss-covered stone bowl, the "bald man's" body grew monstrously within a matter of seconds, releasing a suffocating pressure upon the surroundings through his mere presence.
And truthfully, it was no exaggeration, for his new body easily reached three meters in height, covered in chiseled muscles like those of a Greek statue, while a rocky sheen ran across every exposed muscle fiber.
"¡AAAHH!"
Slamming his fist into the ground after letting out a thunderous roar, a "wave" spread across the surface from the point of impact, reshaping the nearby terrain until it became a "forest" of rocky spears.
Those creations were obviously the "bald man's" attempt to attack both Asahiko, who was nearby, Kikyo, who was in the sky, and incidentally Asuka as well, who had appeared at some point. But... his thinking was far too simple.
The first one, Asahiko, simply stepped backward calmly as he watched the "wave" reshape the terrain, while also taking Asuka, who had come up behind him, with him, instantly removing two targets from the equation.
Meanwhile, Kikyo also followed Asahiko's strategy of avoiding the attack, having her shikigami carry her higher into the sky, thus escaping the danger zone with ease and leaving the "bald man" thoroughly embarrassed.
"So it's that kind of situation."
"That kind?"
"You know, like when they say that it doesn't matter if you give the power of a god to a man, he'll never truly become a god... Yeah, I think I explained that pretty badly."
Switching from a continuous retreat to a sudden assault as soon as the "forest" of rocky spears stopped growing, Asahiko used their rocky surfaces to build up speed by leaping from one to another, reaching the "bald man" within seconds and immediately slashing toward his neck.
Surprisingly, and contrary to everyone's expectations, Clouded Fang failed to sever that head from its neck, instead bouncing back with a metallic clang. It was an incredibly strange sight. He had even managed to cut through Sesshōmaru's flesh with Clouded Fang, yet this extra had endured it?
Setting that rather significant question aside, Asahiko took advantage of both his proximity and his remaining momentum to twist his body, channeling all of his remaining strength into his left leg before driving it into the "bald man's" chest.
The unexpected, but above all powerful, blow sent the "bald man" flying into the rocky spears, impaling him through several of them, though he showed very little reaction.
"You mean personality, drive, desires, and ambitions?"
"Yeah, yeah, as if the spiritual side mattered more than the physical."
"...Never try to pass yourself off as a philosopher."
Offering that friendly piece of advice to Asahiko, who did not seem to understand it for the first few seconds, Kikyo shifted her position in the sky and aimed at the "bald man," who continued crashing through the rocky spears, firing several arrows in rapid succession.
Those arrows were bathed in a gentle purifying pink glow, forcing the "bald man" to hold the moss-covered stone bowl in front of himself as a shield, though doing so produced a side effect.
The pearl fragment, the purple one, changed for a few moments into a vivid pink color, and a powerful yet fleeting "sacred" flash spread throughout the surroundings.
Seeing that, and above all noticing how the "bald man" dropped the bowl because of the sudden pain, Asahiko lunged forward with both hands outstretched. However, before he could get his hands on it, something unexpected happened... he was swallowed by a gigantic worm that burst out of the ground!
That brown beast, covered in thin hair, lacking any visible eyes, and obviously a yōkai because of its impossible size, writhed in the air for a few moments after losing the momentum of its attack. Before it could fall back to the ground, however, it was struck by several arrows.
*¡Roar!*
Howling both because of Kikyo's purifying arrows and because of the slime-covered hand that emerged from inside its body, clearly Asahiko's, the worm-like yōkai dissolved into pink particles before it even touched the ground.
"Why the hell did you purify it?! It was supposed to suffer! Slowly and mercilessly, that damned worm!"
"Relax. There's something even more entertaining over there."
"What, what could possibly be... Huh, again? Don't you have a personal life, some great rival to challenge, or something?"
Looking at Naraku's all-too-familiar puppet, good grief, he was still wearing that ugly cloak made of white baboon hide, Asahiko let out a deep sigh. Seriously, instead of all roads leading to Rome, here all roads lead to Naraku.
"Hahaha, you are my rival, Asahiko."
"...Yeah, you might as well give up already. I'm way too far ahead, and I'm not even really trying."
"What wonderful confidence you display. I wonder if it's as fragile as that of certain individuals fifty years ago; a great tree without deep roots."
Laughing sarcastically as he recalled a certain twisted pleasure, Naraku calmly settled himself atop the rocky spear upon which he stood before toying with the stone bowl until he removed the embedded pearl fragment.
The very first thing he did once it rested between his fingers was stare at it, frowning upon realizing that it had turned dark pink instead of purple. He had spent quite a long time putting this plan together. Simply finding the bowl had been difficult; "tainting" it with the fragment had been even harder... and everything had been lost in just a few seconds.
But he could not let that show. The woman before him could read him as though he were an open book, so he had to redirect his attention elsewhere... toward something reliable and foolproof.
"What's wrong, Naraku? Isn't this exactly what you were expecting?"
"Kikyo... With each passing day I regret even more that I didn't end your life when I had the chance. You do nothing but cause me problem after problem."
"Thank you for the compliments. If you want, you can keep that fragment as a gift from me as well."
Floating until she was directly within Naraku's line of sight, forcing him to look upward whenever he spoke to her, Kikyo smiled coldly while her brown eyes briefly surveyed the surroundings, as though she were waiting for the perfect moment.
"Always so kindhearted, Kikyo. But are you truly certain you want to hand over this particular fragment to me?"
"And why wouldn't I be? Surely you need it more than I do, even if only in an utterly futile attempt to turn yourself into a true demon."
"Hahaha, may your sarcasm never leave you, Kikyo. But why are you, who never showed any interest in the pearl, now pursuing it?... Has the dull priestess finally found her own wi, Agh!"
Silenced as multiple roots burst from the inside of the rocky spear, only to explode outward and mercilessly pierce his body, Naraku's puppet was hoisted into the sky like a macabre banner.
"Asuka, Kochō."
"¡Yes, Lady Kikyo!"
Raising their hands in perfect synchronization, both Asuka and Kochō took their places at the points of a triangular formation with Kikyo at its center, effortlessly trapping Naraku's puppet inside a barrier.
Everything had been executed so perfectly and so quickly that even Asahiko was left speechless. Quite literally, in the blink of an eye, everything ended with Naraku "dead" and imprisoned, leaving him without the slightest idea of how to help.
"How did you manage that?"
"I can share my thoughts and senses with my personal shikigami. Nothing particularly special."
"Tell me the truth, is Kagome really your reincarnation? You're basically a full-fledged main character. I wouldn't be surprised if you ended up... Right, that's why you're the ex. You don't work as a damsel in distress."
"Do you want to die, Asahiko?"
Uttering those words with a sweetness completely unlike her, and even wearing a beautiful smile, Kikyo slowly looked Asahiko up and down, making him shiver.
It was like being watched by a cat in the middle of the night. It wasn't truly life-threatening, and it was even a little cute, but you knew that if it caught you with its claws, the wound would sting quite a bit. Yes, he had just compared her to a cat. What confidence!
"No, no, thanks for the offer. I'd better recover that fragment in case Naraku has another plan."
"The bowl as well. That seems to be the most important thing."
"Yeah, yeah... Your slave hears and obeys."
Shrugging as he waved toward Kikyo, who raised an eyebrow at his shameless remark, Asahiko smiled and headed off to dig through what remained of Naraku... forgetting something very important.
"Heh, if you stayed that obedient, we wouldn't have any problems, Asahiko."
"Sorry, but I'm a complete beginner when it comes to relationships, so I think it's still far too early for that kind of 'game,' Kikyo."
"...Should I be offended? No... is this something that only you and she can understand?"
Narrowing those brown eyes capable of piercing anyone's thoughts with a single glance, Kikyo slowly assembled the pieces of a puzzle within her mind, eventually arriving at the "correct solution."
"Ah, it's like... Good grief, why did this idiot die so easily?"
"Hehehe, relax. I didn't."
"Naraku?" ×2
Sharing a glance before turning toward the new "Naraku puppet," which had appeared atop another rocky spear, both Kikyo and Asahiko found themselves doubting reality.
Had he once again been waiting for the perfect moment to make his entrance? That would be perfectly in character for him, considering that his ego seemed far too large for his own good.
"If you'd like, you can ignore my presence and carry on. Apparently, I'm not very important."
"So you've finally realized?"
"I don't think so, Kikyo. It's more likely that he just has... strange tastes than that he actually understands how unimportant he really is."
"Hahaha, good, good... I'll show you what I'm capable of, Asahiko!"
Gently sweeping his hand in an arc before him, dozens, if not hundreds, of yōkai poured out from Naraku's white sleeves, forming a monstrous wave that charged straight toward his enemies.
...Offstage...
Remaining hidden beneath the ground so that he could neither be detected by Kikyo nor be touched by Asahiko's energy, which made anyone susceptible to his illusions, the second Naraku puppet observed the outside world through its enhanced senses.
Those senses had been improved because of the important mission assigned to this puppet: gathering as many yōkai as possible so that the main body could later absorb them. But who would have thought those senses would now be used for this... to witness flirting live and in person!
"Damned woman..."
Reacting negatively to so much "sweetness" in the air, mainly because Onigumo's heart still beat within the main body and affected every puppet equally, "Naraku" unexpectedly decided to act directly.
To hell with his grand mission. Surely, once the main body saw his memories, it would approve of his actions. After all, all of "them" thought alike.
But now... now it was time for his revenge!