As a yōkai bearing the name of the dragon, Ryūkotsusei possessed the genuine bloodline of a true dragon flowing through his veins. Not only was his lineage far superior to that of most yōkai in the world, but Ryūkotsusei also took immense pride in his heritage and strength.
For that reason, this great yōkai disdained taking on human form. He had always appeared and remained active in his true shape—a massive demon dragon.
Moreover, unlike other famous great yōkai such as the Panther King or the Dog General, Ryūkotsusei had no followers, nor did he occupy any territory of his own.
In contrast to those who delighted in building empires or ruling over domains, Ryūkotsusei, despite being a dragon, was surprisingly uninterested in power or authority.
The reason he roamed the lands was simple—to find a worthy opponent, one strong enough to challenge him in battle, and to fight with unrestrained vigor.
To kill the opponent—or be killed by them.
It was for this very reason that several months ago, Ryūkotsusei had ventured into the nearby region and clashed with the Panther Tribe.
There, he engaged the Panther King himself in a cataclysmic battle that shook the heavens and the earth.
The Panther King, a great yōkai in his own right, possessed the ability to manipulate the souls of other yōkai. His attacks even carried a curse-like effect—those struck by him would die instantly if their will was weak, their souls subsequently absorbed.
However, Ryūkotsusei, as a dragon yōkai, possessed a body so powerful it defied comprehension. Facing the Panther King's attacks, he showed no fear and simply took them head-on. No matter how fiercely his foe's claws slashed or how potent his blasts of demonic energy, Ryūkotsusei's hide remained unscathed.
His immense endurance, both mental and physical, rendered the Panther King's assaults utterly futile.
Yet, Ryūkotsusei had one major flaw—while his strength was overwhelming, his agility was lacking. The Panther King, being of feline lineage, naturally possessed far superior reflexes and reaction speed.
As a result, Ryūkotsusei's powerful attacks could not strike the nimble Panther King.
One could not break through; the other could not land a blow. Thus, their duel dragged on for several days, devastating the surrounding landscape and annihilating countless plants and lesser yōkai caught in the aftermath. Yet, instead of tiring, both great yōkai grew more exhilarated as they fought.
Until—the forces of the Lunar Palace suddenly intervened.
...
"Hmm?"
Snapped from his recollections, Ryūkotsusei suddenly sensed another yōki approaching rapidly from behind, accompanied by an intense killing intent.
Within that intertwining surge of demonic energy and bloodlust, Ryūkotsusei felt a familiar thrill prickle across his scales.
"This sensation... this yōki... interesting."
He immediately turned, his massive body twisting through the clouds as his draconic head swung toward the approaching presence.
Not far away, a blazing sphere of light streaked through the sky, then transformed under his gaze into a handsome silver-haired man.
Seeing the stranger's calm yet piercing eyes and the drawn blade in his hand, Ryūkotsusei rumbled, "Boy, to challenge me so boldly... your courage is admirable."
Floating in midair, Sesshōmaru raised his sword—Bakusaiga—and pointed its gleaming tip toward Ryūkotsusei's head.
"Ryūkotsusei, if it's a worthy opponent you seek, then let me, Sesshōmaru, be the one to send you to your grave."
"'Sesshōmaru'? I recall hearing that name from the Panther Tribe..." Ryūkotsusei's massive form coiled and writhed amidst the storm clouds. His immense yōki stirred the surrounding winds and lightning, turning the heavens themselves into his shroud. "They said you caused them quite some trouble."
"..."
Sesshōmaru was never one for idle talk. Golden light flared from his body, and in the next moment, a burst of demonic energy exploded from his blade—an enormous arc of sword aura shooting straight toward Ryūkotsusei.
Confident in his strength, Ryūkotsusei didn't move. He let the full force of the attack strike his colossal body.
BOOOOM...!
A deafening explosion shook the skies, waves of fiery energy rippling outward. But within seconds, the smoke and light faded—and the spot where the sword aura had struck revealed Ryūkotsusei's scales, gleaming unscathed.
Sesshōmaru's eyes narrowed. Ryūkotsusei's body had not suffered the slightest injury.
"Boy, if you think you can slay me, Ryūkotsusei, with such pitiful strength, you're sorely mistaken."
Sesshōmaru's cold gaze did not waver. "That was merely a warning. The next strike—I won't hold back."
"Hahaha... Not bad. I like those eyes." The massive dragon's laughter rolled like thunder across the heavens. "Very well. Let this be my warm-up—before I crush that fool, the Great Dog General."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Ryūkotsusei lunged forward.
Despite his colossal size, his movement was astonishingly swift. The clouds around him twisted into enormous whirlpools, drawn by the overwhelming force of his demonic energy.
Sesshōmaru's eyes narrowed sharply. Without a word, he activated his instantaneous movement technique, his form blurring into a streak of light that sliced through the air. In a flash, he evaded the dragon's assault, reappearing above Ryūkotsusei's head—then struck.
The sky itself trembled. A golden-green arc of sword light erupted, whirling violently through the air like a storm of divine energy. It fell upon Ryūkotsusei's head, a radiant downpour woven of golden beams and green lightning.
"This... what power?"
Even Ryūkotsusei was momentarily taken aback. But his hesitation lasted only a breath—his jaws opened wide, and a massive orb of demonic energy burst forth to meet the golden-green deluge head-on.
The two forces collided in a blinding explosion. The air currents of the upper sky were instantly thrown into chaos. Even the lightning crawling through the storm clouds was forced aside, scattering outward with zzzzzt crackles. The thick clouds Ryūkotsusei had summoned moments ago were torn apart, as though fearing the power contained within that golden-green light.
"This power... interesting. But—"
Ryūkotsusei's crimson eyes gleamed fiercely as the golden-green aura shredded his yōki orb. Suddenly, on the surface of his enormous head, a black magatama pattern appeared, pulsing with energy.
"You're not the only one who wields such power, boy!"
In the next instant, a surge of immense draconic might burst from Ryūkotsusei's body, twisting the very air around him. The magatama mark radiated dazzling violet light, shooting forward and crashing into Sesshōmaru's expanding, all-cutting Bakusaiga energy.
Sesshōmaru's expression tightened in surprise as the violet radiance enveloped the golden-green force of Bakusaiga, consuming it bit by bit—devouring his attack whole.
"What's going on? The power of Bakusaiga... it's being devoured?"
Even Sesshōmaru himself was taken aback. But he wasn't the only one—through the projection of the great Tenseigan, Ruri too was visibly surprised.
Just like Satsuki, she could clearly perceive the characteristic property of Sesshōmaru's Bakusaiga—Perpetuity. A force with such a trait, in theory, should never cease until its purpose was fulfilled.
However, Satsuki, sitting nearby, was entirely unperturbed by the sight. "There's nothing strange about that. Perpetuity is but one among many authority-based laws. Sesshōmaru's control over such power is still in its infancy."
After all, if Sesshōmaru were truly capable of fully wielding Bakusaiga's potential, then a single slash toward the ground would be enough to reduce the entire world to dust. Clearly, that was not the case.
Moreover, even Sesshōmaru's father, the Great Dog General, who wielded three divine weapons—each containing an authority law—had only managed to rule over the Western Lands. Conquering the entire Warring States world by his own strength alone was beyond even him.
For this world was said to harbor beings known as Demon Sages and Demon Saints—existences whose powers and mysteries far surpassed what any so-called great yōkai could comprehend.
"Just keep watching," Satsuki said coolly. "If this were to be a one-sided battle, I wouldn't have bothered to arrange such a confrontation myself."
"Fair enough," Ruri replied, settling back to observe.
...
On the Battlefield.
Sesshōmaru watched as his sword light was effortlessly nullified, his expression tightening slightly—but he had never expected to defeat such a great yōkai with a single blow.
Whoosh—
Using his instantaneous movement technique, he gracefully evaded Ryūkotsusei's massive charge—a strike that could blot out the sky.
However, before he could seize the opening for a counterattack, a sharp warning surged through his senses.
!
Startled, Sesshōmaru instinctively prepared to teleport again—but he was a split-second too late. A tangible vortex of air tore through the clouds, roaring toward him with the force of a hurricane.
"Hmph! Boy, did you really think the attacks of Ryūkotsusei are so easily avoided?"
Though his headlong strike had missed, the sheer motion of Ryūkotsusei's enormous body had churned the atmosphere into chaos, generating a secondary attack—air currents powerful enough to tear apart the very earth.
Riiip—!
Sesshōmaru narrowly evaded, but a portion of his left sleeve was ripped clean off. Even before the storm struck, the surrounding turbulence had already cut shallow gashes across his face like invisible blades.
"Hmph... another vortex, is it?"
Despite being momentarily on the defensive, Sesshōmaru remained calm. His silver hair whipped wildly in the storm, his golden eyes fixed on the center of the swirling tempest.
Having faced Ruri several times before, Sesshōmaru understood such vortex-type yōki phenomena well.
This power was formidable—its self-reinforcing spiral and accelerating momentum ensured that it wouldn't dissipate over time, but rather grow stronger the longer it persisted.
To take such an attack head-on from a great yōkai like Ryūkotsusei was suicidal. A brute-force defense, like what Shuten Dōji might have managed, was beyond Sesshōmaru's reach.
But instead of retreating, Sesshōmaru raised his blade—and swung.
The golden-green sword light shot forward, striking directly at the eye of the storm—the very center that maintained the vortex's balance. Compared to the titanic whirlwind, the slash seemed insignificant, almost frail.
Yet such a small, precisely placed strike—executed at the perfect point—could yield a cataclysmic result.
For the eye of a storm was its foundation. The rotational symmetry around a fixed center maintained the vortex's unified three-dimensional flow, ensuring that its forces reinforced rather than canceled one another.
Once that delicate equilibrium was disturbed, however, the entire system would collapse from within.
That was precisely why Satsuki valued control over raw power. No matter how impressive one's strength appeared on paper, in real combat, reliability always triumphed over brute force.
BOOOOOOM—!
Golden energy burst forth from the storm's eye, disrupting its delicate balance. The center that once maintained the vortex's equilibrium shifted, throwing the entire storm into chaos.
The vast power that had been rotating in perfect harmony now clashed violently within itself. Without control or guidance, the energies began to cancel one another out. Though Ryūkotsusei's strength was immense, that very magnitude hastened its own collapse once it turned inward.
However, such an outcome did not surprise Ryūkotsusei in the slightest. After all, his usual opponents were seasoned masters of power—seeing through this kind of trick was hardly rare.
"So, you think you've neutralized my attack that easily... boy?"
The dragon's massive purple-scaled head turned toward Sesshōmaru, a mocking grin curling across his enormous jaws.
From afar, Sesshōmaru caught that expression—and in that instant, realization dawned upon him.
—That violent storm had only been a feint. The real, deadly attack was coming now!
But by the time he understood, it was already too late.
Thunder rumbled through the clouds as colossal bolts of violet lightning slithered like serpents through the skies, striking down toward Sesshōmaru's position in a blinding barrage.
Even with his incredible speed, lightning was on a level of its own—instantaneous, absolute.
"Bakusaiga!"
Sesshōmaru swung his blade in desperation, unleashing arcs of golden-green light that flared around him like a protective barrier.
A heartbeat later, the heavens erupted.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The sky itself seemed to split apart under the onslaught. Battling Ryūkotsusei in the open heavens was far from ideal—for this dragon yōkai possessed unparalleled dominion over thunder and lightning.
In moments, countless bolts converged around Sesshōmaru, forming a cage of pure thunder that locked him within a prison of storming death.
"As a warm-up... this is still far from enough!"
Murmuring in satisfaction, Ryūkotsusei opened his massive jaws. From all directions, the surrounding demonic energy was drawn in, swirling into his maw. Even the mere act of gathering power caused the clouds above to shift violently, transforming the sky across hundreds of miles.
The massive clouds began to rotate, drawn into the vortex of his yōki. High above, at an altitude of several thousand meters, the air itself warped—a natural disaster of apocalyptic magnitude forming at its heart.
In the dragon's crimson eyes, a glint of feral excitement flashed as a tremendous orb of demonic energy took shape within his jaws.
Then—
With a deafening roar, the monstrous energy sphere surged forth, tearing through the heavens like a cataclysmic meteor. Under the empowerment of violet lightning, it crashed directly into Sesshōmaru's radiant barrier of golden-green light.
A thunderous dragon's roar echoed across the sky, shaking the world.
From the heavens descended a blinding column of radiance—like divine judgment itself. The Light of Divine Punishment fell from above, obliterating everything in its path.
The impact engulfed Sesshōmaru's position completely, reducing the world below to pure, searing white.