"Lady Kikyo, I can sense a staggering amount of malevolence coming from up there!"
Kohaku pointed toward the jagged peaks looming ahead, his voice tight with alarm. The sky above the summit had turned an bruised, oily black, as if the heavens themselves were being choked by the rising miasma.
"Whoa... look at those clouds. They're like ink," Moroha added, her eyes wide as she scanned the mountain.
'It's definitely a Servant... but there's something else. The scent of Naraku's incarnations is mixed in there as well.'
Kikyo stood silent, her gaze piercing through the thick clouds. A deployment of this magnitude could only be orchestrated by Naraku.
"Let's hurry. I can hear the sounds of battle already," Moroha said, her hand reaching for her sword as she prepared to sprint ahead.
"Wait, Moroha!"
Kohaku reached out to catch the girl's shoulder, but she was already gone, a red streak against the grey rocks. He turned back to Kikyo with a look of helpless concern.
"Kohaku, it would be best if you remained at the base of the mountain," Kikyo said, her voice calm but firm. "The creatures roaming above are far beyond what you've fought before. You'll only be placing yourself in unnecessary danger."
"I understand..."
Kohaku nodded, accepting the wisdom of her words. He'd seen enough of those "remodeled" demons on the way here to know his own limits.
"I'll wait here for Lord Toga. Even if things get bad above, he'll be able to set things right when he arrives."
He felt a strange sort of peace knowing the Great Dog Demon was on his way. No matter how deep the darkness, the Master of the Western Lands was a light that refused to be extinguished.
"Tch!"
"There really is no end to them, is there?"
Kagura snapped her fan shut, a wave of wind shredding the nearest cluster of winged demons. She leaped backward, narrowly avoiding a barbed tail that whipped through the air where her head had been a second before.
The "generic" demons were easy enough to handle, but the sheer quantity was beginning to take a toll. And then there were the "improved" ones--the ones with the Dragon-Man scales.
WHOOSH!
A sacred arrow streaked past her, vaporizing a dozen demons in a single, blinding flash of light.
Kagura looked back to see Inuyasha and his group emerge from the treeline.
"Inuyasha!"
"Kagura! Where's Sesshomaru?"
"Already at the summit," Kagura answered, her tone a mix of relief and annoyance. "Naraku's primary forces are all concentrated up there. It's a literal fortress."
The news sent a ripple of tension through the group. Miroku looked up at the sky, his eyes wide as he assessed the situation.
"The numbers are staggering... there must be thousands of them."
"Wait, Miroku, whatever you do, don't use the `[Wind Tunnel]`," Inuyasha warned, grabbing the monk's wrist. "The scale of that swarm is too much for even you to handle. You'll be consumed before you can even make a dent."
"Don't worry, my friend. I'm not that reckless," Miroku replied, though his grip on his staff tightened. He knew his limits, and he knew that the miasma in the air was already putting a strain on the tunnel's seal.
"But Inuyasha, you can't use the `[Tessaiga]` either, can you?"
"Heh. Actually, I think I've found a way around that."
Inuyasha drew his blade, and the group gasped. The surface of the massive sword was now covered in a layer of dull, forest-green scales--a legacy of the countless "improved" demons he'd slashed on the way here.
"Dragon-Scaled `[Tessaiga]`..."
"It's not perfect yet," Inuyasha admitted, looking at his weapon with a grimace. "It allows me to trade energy with them in close quarters, but it doesn't give me the range I need. For now, it's just a way to keep from being drained dry."
He wasn't satisfied, but it was better than nothing. He found himself wishing Rikuo's anti-evil blade was here; that would have made this slaughter much more efficient.
"Inuyasha, take Kagome and head to the summit," Sango said, adjusting the straps of the `[Hiraikotsu]`. "The rest of us will hold the line down here."
"Right. Be careful!"
CRACKLE!!
BOOM!!
Bolts of lightning and geysers of flame continued to rain down on Akame, the feathers beneath her feet being shredded bit by bit as she weaved through the aerial bombardment.
'They're on high alert.'
Akame shifted her weight, maintaining her balance on the dwindling surface of the enchanted feathers.
The demonized brothers, Kinka and Ginka, were working in perfect unison. They were deliberately maintaining their distance, raining down wide-area destruction to prevent her from closing in. In the open sky, her greatest asset--her speed--was being neutralized by the lack of solid ground.
'If I just had one solid platform...'
The three extra feathers Kagura had provided were nearly spent. She was running out of time and space.
Wait.
Akame glanced upward at the jagged mountain peaks looming over her. An idea began to take shape in her mind.
"Hmph. No matter what you try, you'll never reach us!"
"How much longer do you think those pathetic feathers can keep you afloat?!"
Kinka and Ginka watched with malicious glee as Akame began to move. To them, she was a cornered bird, fluttering uselessly before the storm.
Akame crouched low on the last whole feather, then suddenly threw herself upward, leaping as high as her muscles would propel her.
"What?"
"Is she trying to jump into the clouds?"
The brothers were momentarily stunned by the sheer absurdity of the move. At that height, she was a stationary target in the sky, a perfect sacrifice.
"Die!!"
They unleashed their combined power--a massive pillar of flame intertwined with jagged electricity--aiming it directly at the falling girl.
WHOOSH!
Akame dropped a new feather in mid-air, using it as a momentary springboard to flip her body to the side. The energy beam tore through the empty space where she'd been a second before, striking the overhanging cliff face behind her instead.
BOOM!!
The impact was catastrophic. A massive section of the mountain gave way, a torrent of boulders and gravel beginning to cascade down into the valley.
"I see... so that was your plan!"
"But launching a surprise attack from a falling rock... it's too slow!"
The demons watched as Akame hit one of the falling boulders, her feet finding purchase on the sliding stone. But they were already preparing their next volley.
Akame didn't wait.
CLACK.
The moment her feet touched the stone, she exploded.
The sudden burst of speed was beyond anything they had anticipated. She wasn't just falling; she was running down the avalanche. Using the falling debris as a series of transient stepping stones, she zigzagged through the air at a velocity that blurred their vision.
Shadows flickered in their periphery.
"L-Look out!!"
"Close the defenses! Cover the vitals with the scales!!"
The realization of the danger came a fraction of a second too late.
Akame was already in their space.
"Funeral." [Sousou]
The blade of `[Murasame]` flashed once--a clean, horizontal streak of silver.
...
Akame exhaled slowly as she used her final feather to catch her fall, watching as the two halves of the fused demon brothers began to separate and tumble toward the valley floor.
The "Upper Moons," despite their power and their gifted armor, had been undone by a simple lapse in their perception.
They had been guarding the gate to a god, and yet they had been cut down by a girl who used a mountain as her ladder.
Without the cursed blade, Akame knew she never would have made it this far. In this world of monsters and miracles, she was a killer among gods. It was a familiar, if exhausting, feeling.
"Wait... who's that?"
Akame spotted a small, red-clad figure leaping up the rocks below her, moving with an athleticism that was strikingly similar to someone she'd met recently.
[Translated and Rewritten by Shika_Kagura]