"Who… exactly is she…?"
Musō stared fixedly at Kagome's familiar face.
He stood frozen in place, his pupils unfocused, his eyes filled with deep confusion.
"What are you standing there for?!"
Inuyasha's furious shout shattered his daze instantly.
Musō snapped back to reality just in time to see Tessaiga, wrapped in fierce demonic wind, cleaving straight toward his chest.
In a hurried motion, he raised his arm to block.
Slash!
With a crisp sound, his right arm—covered in writhing tentacles—was cut off by a single strike of Tessaiga.
"The woman… who was she just now?"
He didn't even glance at his severed arm. His eyes remained locked on Kagome as he muttered to himself, his expression becoming more and more distant.
Suddenly, the vague image of a shrine maiden in his mind became clear.
The face was identical to the woman standing before him.
"That's it! It was her!!"
Musō's pupils shrank sharply as he clenched his fist, his voice trembling with both shock and wild excitement.
"What nonsense are you spouting?"
Inuyasha raised Tessaiga and sneered coldly.
"I'll finish you in one move!"
Before the words even finished, he kicked off the ground and shot toward Musō like an arrow.
"It's you! Now get out of my way!"
Musō's eyes burned with an intense light as he fixed his gaze on Kagome. A crazed grin spread across his face.
Facing Inuyasha, who stood in his path, he shouted impatiently.
From the stump of his severed arm, even thicker and more grotesque tentacles burst forth.
With a powerful swing, he knocked Inuyasha flying away and charged straight toward Kagome.
"You bastard!"
Sango and Miroku rushed forward to block him.
Hiraikotsu and Miroku's staff struck at the same time, but Musō easily dodged both attacks.
Several tentacles shot out like venomous snakes, lunging directly toward the defenseless Kagome.
Seeing them rush toward her, Kagome's pupils shrank in shock.
She turned to run—but the tentacles instantly wrapped around her waist and yanked her into the air.
"Hahaha! That's right! You're the one I want!"
Musō threw his head back and laughed wildly, his face twisted with greed and madness.
Whoosh—!
A sharp whistle tore through the air.
A powerful sacred arrow streaked forward, brimming with overwhelming purifying energy.
Musō's laughter stopped abruptly.
He turned instinctively—and saw a blazing arrow wrapped in immense holy power racing toward him like a falling star.
In that brief moment of distraction, the arrow slammed directly into his body.
The destructive purification burst forth instantly.
Musō's body shattered piece by piece within the brilliant white light.
Through the dazzling glow, he saw a figure standing on a distant hillside.
A red-and-white silhouette held a bow, still in the posture of having just fired the arrow.
The face was one he knew so well it seemed etched into his soul.
Before his body completely crumbled to ashes, he gathered his final strength and shouted:
"Kik…yo! You are… my—"
"Kikyo?!"
Inuyasha also noticed Kikyo standing on the hillside with her bow.
He stared in shock, clearly not expecting her to appear here.
"Ah—!"
Kagome's startled cry snapped him out of it.
Looking up, Inuyasha saw Kagome falling from the air.
He immediately leapt up, catching her securely in his arms before landing lightly on the ground.
"Kikyo, why are you here?"
After setting Kagome down, Inuyasha looked at Kikyo—who was slowly approaching on Blackmaru—and asked in surprise.
"Thank you for saving me!"
Kagome steadied herself and bowed deeply to Kikyo in gratitude. Then she asked curiously,
"Kikyo, did you come here for something?"
"I came to find you, Kagome."
Kikyo's gaze rested on her calmly, but in the next moment her expression became stern.
"When Inuyasha was fighting just now, why were you standing there blankly? You could have picked up a bow and helped, yet you did nothing and allowed yourself to be captured by the enemy."
"I… I…"
Kagome's face flushed bright red as she lowered her head in embarrassment.
Only after Kikyo pointed it out did she realize how foolish she had been standing there frozen.
Even if she couldn't fight directly, she should have at least grabbed her bow to defend herself—
Not stood there doing nothing until she was caught.
"Kikyo, Kagome just came back through the Bone-Eater's Well. She didn't expect to run into one of Naraku's incarnations!"
Seeing Kagome at a loss for words, Inuyasha quickly stepped in to defend her.
"It's okay, Inuyasha."
Kagome pulled on his sleeve. Her eyes had become firm and serious.
"Kikyo is right. I shouldn't have just stood there doing nothing.
I can fight too. Even if I can't help you much, I should at least use a bow to protect myself instead of being captured and waiting for you to save me."
"Kagome…"
Inuyasha stared at her in surprise.
He hadn't expected Kagome not only to avoid getting angry but actually agree with Kikyo.
It made him wonder when the two of them had become so close.
"Good that you understand," Kikyo said, her expression softening slightly.
"Although part of it was your carelessness, another reason is that you don't have a sacred bow of your own."
She smiled faintly and took a brand-new bow from her back, along with a quiver filled with more than a dozen arrows, handing them to Kagome.
"This is for you."
"This… this is for me?"
Kagome's eyes lit up with excitement as she accepted the bow and arrows.
The craftsmanship was exquisite, and it clearly looked brand new—something carefully made not long ago.
"Thank you!"
"It's a return gift for the pendant you gave me last time," Kikyo said gently with a nod.
"Thank you for the gift. I really liked it."
She paused, then added,
"This bow was specially made for you. It's not an ordinary bow. The core contains a special material infused with spiritual power, which will guide your shrine maiden energy more effectively."
Kagome ran her hand over the bow happily.
"You made this just for me? I love it. Thank you so much!"
"A shrine maiden's spiritual power is both a force that purifies demons and something demons will covet," Kikyo said, slinging her own bow back over her shoulder.
"If you're outside, you should always carry your bow. It's your weapon as a shrine maiden."
"I understand!"
Kagome nodded seriously and imitated Kikyo, securing the bow firmly on her back.
"Blackmaru, carry Kagome's bag."
Kikyo patted the large black dog beside her, then turned and walked toward the spot where Musō had vanished.
"Let's take a look at the battlefield."
"Inuyasha, the enemy you fought earlier… was one of Naraku's incarnations, wasn't he?" Kikyo asked while studying the faint demonic aura lingering on the ground.
"That's right. His name is Musō," Inuyasha replied grimly as he walked beside her.
"He likes killing people and then stealing their faces. 'Musō' was actually the name of a monk whose face he stole.
And it seemed like he didn't remember anything. He just killed because he enjoyed it."
"Also… he seemed very interested in Kagome," Sango suddenly added.
"That's true," Miroku nodded. "Ever since Miss Kagome appeared, he kept shouting about capturing her."
"Whatever he was, he's dead now," Inuyasha said.
But despite his words, hesitation lingered in his voice.
"…Still, he died way too easily. Something about it feels strange."
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