"Did you... did you just take down that two-headed freak?"
"That was actually pretty impressive."
"You're a Servant too, aren't you?"
Moroha stood perched on a jagged shelf of rock, her hand shading her eyes as she looked up at Akame, who was still gliding on her enchanted feather. Her voice was full of genuine curiosity and the kind of easy confidence that only a teenager could pull off in the middle of a warzone.
"I'm here to finish a job, not to start a fight with you."
"Besides... can't you feel it? The miasma coming from that peak is staggering. Something really bad is about to hatch."
Akame's gaze remained wary, her hand never leaving the hilt of `[Murasame]`. She glanced down at Kagura below; seeing that the wind-demon was both safe and being assisted by newcomers, she decided to ignore the red-clad girl and continued her flight toward the summit.
"Tch. Well, aren't you the icy one?"
"At least say 'thanks' or something!"
Moroha grumbled, watching Akame disappear into the clouds. She wasn't used to being ignored, but she didn't have much time to pout.
"Wait... that scent..."
"Dad! He's here too!"
Her face lit up with a grin as she spotted a familiar figure leaping up the mountain trail, carrying someone on his back.
"Sorry I'm late."
"Rikuo!"
Miroku and the others looked up with relief as the Third Head of the Nura Clan skidded to a halt beside them.
"I never expected things to escalate this quickly while I was away," Rikuo said, shifting his grip on his broken blade. He'd barely had time to catch his breath after the fight with the Shikon Jewel before the Master-Servant bond had pulled him toward Kagome's location.
"You need to get to the summit," Miroku said, his expression grave. "The miasma is still intensifying. Whatever is inside that mountain... it's not something we can let roam free."
"Kagome is going to need every sword she can get."
Rikuo nodded, his eyes scanning the horizon. "Be careful down here. I can feel several other Masters and Servants closing in. This place has become the eye of the storm."
An ominous pressure was building in the atmosphere, drawing the combatants toward the final confrontation like moths to a flame.
CRACKLE!!
"Whoa! Hey, a little warning before the surprise attack would be nice!"
Byakuya of the Illusions jerked his paper crane to the side, a bolt of azure lightning missing his wing by inches. He looked down to see Koga and Cu Chulainn standing on the ridge below.
"Hmph. You're one of Naraku's, aren't you?"
"Tell me... who the hell is the Shikon Jewel fighting over there?!"
Koga's voice was a bark of command as he stared up at the illusionist.
"You mean you're a Master and you don't even recognize a legend like that?"
"How disappointing. Your information network must be rather... primitive," Byakuya replied, his hands tucked safely into his sleeves. He took a perverse pleasure in the Wolf Demon's ignorance.
"What did you say?!"
Koga's temper flared, but Cu Chulainn stepped forward, his eyes fixed on the distant clash between Toga and the Berserker.
"An 'Important Person,' huh?"
"I'll say. That guy with the swords... his fighting spirit is absolutely monstrous."
"He's a Saber-class, isn't he?"
Cu Chulainn's assessment was professional and direct. From the raw volume of mana--or rather, the sheer density of the demonic energy--radiating from the Great Dog Demon, it was clear he was looking at the strongest Servant in the entire war.
Even from this distance, the way Saber was effortlessly suppressing the Berserker was staggering.
"Yare, yare..."
"You're a youkai yourself, aren't you?" Byakuya asked, looking down at Koga with a patronizing tilt of his head. "To inhabit this land and not recognize the name of the Great Dog Demon... it's almost impressive."
"Expectations... what?"
Koga froze. The name was legendary, a fundamental part of the hierarchy he'd grown up in. To think that the Lord of the Western Lands had returned as a Servant...
'Wait... if that's Inuyasha's father... then who's the Master?'
The implications were dizzying. If the Master shared their goals, they had a powerhouse ally. But if they were a fanatic...
Koga's eyes darted around the forest, searching for any sign of a hidden Master.
"Sounds like a hell of a guy," Cu Chulainn muttered, a wild, competitive spark in his eyes. "I'd love to trade a few rounds with him and see where I stand."
"Idiot! Now is not the time for that!"
Koga snapped at his Servant, though his own heart was racing. The mountain ahead was a cauldron of poison, and in the valley below, two gods were dueling for the future of the world.
"Honestly, you should have just stayed home and stayed out of this," Byakuya sighed, glancing at the two of them. "You've lost your Dragon Balls; you're effectively out of the race. Staying here won't get you anything but a very painful end."
WIND SCAR!!
BOOM!!
Toga's blade unleashed a massive wave of golden energy, a strike that would have decimated an entire army.
But for the tenth time that hour, the result was the same. The Shikon Jewel--now a grotesque, multi-armed monstrosity centered around a single, massive eye--absorbed the impact, its body dissolving and reconstructing in the span of a heartbeat.
'The [Meido] is being outpaced by his regeneration...'
Toga's brow furrowed. The Shikon Jewel's ability to adapt was surpassing his initial estimates. It was effectively becoming immune to the techniques of the Netherworld.
"Every strike you land is just more data for my evolution."
"You and Kirinmaru could have ended this on the first night if you'd been serious. But now? Now, I am your peer."
The Shikon Jewel shifted its form again, its fleshy arms hardening into obsidian-like blades. It had been "killed" five times today--twice by Kirinmaru, once by Rion, once by Cu Chulainn, and now once by Toga.
Six deaths. Six steps toward divinity.
'Even after all that, it can still maintain this level of pressure. To think a jewel could possess such tenacity...'
Toga sheathed the `[Tenseiga]` and drew the `[Tessaiga]`.
[Tessaiga]?
'That scrap-metal sword? It's no longer a threat to me.'
The Shikon Jewel watched the switch with utter disdain. Thanks to watching Inuyasha fail with the weapon for years, it knew every attack pattern and every limitation of the blade. It had long since categorized the `[Tessaiga]` as a "useless relic."
Unless Toga was hiding a technique that Inuyasha had never mastered...
"Don't tell me you're going to try the `[Kaze no Kizu]` again?"
"It's almost charming how much you rely on it."
Toga didn't respond. He simply exhaled and swung the blade.
WHOOSH!!
A massive torrent of golden wind erupted from the sword, far larger and more concentrated than anything Inuyasha had ever produced. It was like comparing a mountain stream to the open ocean.
"True... the power is impressive," Byakuya muttered, watching from his perch. "I can see why Naraku wanted me to keep a specialized watch on this one."
It was a technique capable of killing a hundred demons in a single sweep, yet the Shikon Jewel took it head-on, its body shattering and reforming with effortless grace.
"Hah! Is that all?"
The monster laughed, its tone a cruel parody of Inuyasha's own arrogance. It raised one of its massive, fleshy tentacles and swung it in a wide arc.
SWOOSH!!
!!!
"Did that jewel just... use the `[Kaze no Kizu]`?"
A massive wave of deep-red energy erupted from the monster's limb, a perfect, more malicious replica of the Great Dog Demon's own technique.
"What? You're surprised?" the Jewel sneered. "I've spent an eternity watching your family. I know how your toys work."
"I was hoping you'd try the `[Bakuryuha]` next. I'd love to see how that tastes."
Toga's expression remained unchanged, but his eyes were sharp. He realized now that the Shikon Jewel wasn't just tanking hits; it was a "Technical Parasite." It used each death to learn the "intent" behind the technique that had killed it.
If he used `[Bakuryuha]`, he'd just be handing the monster the keys to the kingdom.
"I see. So, you're a thief as well."
He sheathed the `[Tessaiga]` and reached for the hilt of the one blade he truly loathed to carry.
The `[So'unga]`.
"Are you sure about that? Using that blade might only make me stronger in the end," the Shikon Jewel mocked, though its tentacles shifted into a defensive posture.
"Perhaps."
Toga drew the blade, and the air around him turned into a freezing, toxic gale.
[Gokuryuha]!! (Dragon Stream Wave!!)
"So... Inuyasha. This girl... she's really our daughter?"
Kagome stood in the middle of a massive, cavernous hall, her finger pointing at the energetic, red-clad Moroha who was currently chatting with Rin.
She'd seen the resemblance almost immediately. The fire-rat robe, the stubborn chin, the way she practically vibrated with untapped energy... she was a miniature, female version of Inuyasha.
But the reality of the situation was hitting her like a freight train.
"Look, I can't explain it either! One minute she wasn't here, and the next, Kikyo had summoned her from the future!" Inuyasha stammered, his face a bright, embarrassed red.
"I know... I know. But... I'm fifteen!!"
"How am I supposed to have a teenager for a daughter?!"
Kagome's brain was struggling to reconcile her identity as a modern high school student with the realization that this girl was her future.
"Hehe! My name's Moroha! Nice to meet you, Mama!"
"Mama?!"
Kagome's soul practically left her body at the word.
"I heard you've been taking great care of me in the other timeline! Although you did tell me I need to study more, which I didn't really like, but I still love you!"
"Another mom... Kagome, did you hear that?"
"I heard it. And I'm trying very hard not to faint," Kagome muttered.
She looked at Inuyasha, then back at Moroha. It was absurd. It was impossible.
"And Kikyo... she's been looking after this child?"
"Yeah. It's... complicated."
Kagome felt a strange, bittersweet ache in her chest. For Kikyo--the woman who had been denied her own future--to be the one guarding Inuyasha and Kagome's daughter... it was a profound, silent act of grace.
"Wait."
Inuyasha's ears flicked. He looked toward the far end of the hall, where Sesshomaru, Akame, and Rin were standing before a massive, pulsating fleshy cocoon that filled the chamber like a beating heart.
Beside the "egg" stood a lone figure, his back turned to them.
Toshu the Smith.
The transition was complete.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]