"Kikyo-sama, there's extremely strong malevolent energy over there!"
Running ahead, Kohaku pointed at the nearby peak and shouted.
"Hey, the clouds have gone completely black—what on earth is in there?"
Moroha gazed upward with curiosity.
'A Servant after all?'
'Mixed in there is also the presence of Naraku's incarnations...'
With a commotion of this scale, it definitely had something to do with Naraku.
"Then let's hurry—I can feel someone fighting there."
"Wait, Moroha—"
Seeing Moroha dash ahead, Kohaku felt a headache. Glancing at Kikyo, he found she had no intention of stopping her.
"Kohaku, you should stay at the foot of the mountain. Going up there—who knows what kind of youkai might be lurking."
"Understood."
Hearing Kikyo's instructions, Kohaku knew what she meant.
They'd seen strange demons along the way—occasionally types he couldn't handle appeared. Getting too close would only put him in danger.
"I'll wait at the base for the Great Dog Demon."
Moving forward, Kohaku felt reassured. No matter what danger lay ahead, once that lord arrived, everything would be resolved.
...
"Tch! There's really a lot of them."
Dodging a tail swipe, Kagura looked at the Demon Youkai that showed no sign of decreasing and groaned.
Those without youkai-absorbing ability were manageable—she could dispatch them cleanly.
But when she encountered the ones that could, her attack options became extremely limited.
The dragonkin scales were just too effective at countering her.
SWISH!
But the Sacred Arrow passing by her instantly eliminated numerous Demon Youkai.
Looking back, she saw Inuyasha's group emerging from the forest.
"Inuyasha!"
"Kagura, where's Sesshomaru?"
"He already went up ahead. Naraku's Servant must be here."
Kagura's answer clarified things for everyone. Miroku raised his hand and carefully observed the sky.
"Such an amazing number..."
"There must be thousands of youkai..."
"Wait, Miroku—don't use the Wind Tunnel. Even you couldn't withstand that."
Seeing Miroku's motion, Inuyasha set Kagome down and grabbed his wrist.
"Don't worry—I won't be that reckless."
On that note, Miroku shook his head, knowing his own limits.
If he really tried to use the Wind Tunnel on all these Demon Youkai, he'd probably be devoured before he finished.
"But Inuyasha, you can't use Tessaiga either."
"Heh, no problem. Tessaiga is also good at stealing youkai power."
"When I forced my way through and killed some of these things, it apparently gained a new form."
Drawing Tessaiga, Inuyasha suddenly spoke with confidence.
The great blade's surface was now covered in dark green scales.
"Dragon-scale Tessaiga..."
"But at most it's just mutual youkai power absorption in close combat."
Not blindly infatuated with the new Tessaiga, Inuyasha was still annoyed.
Rikuo's blade would actually be more useful right now.
"Inuyasha, you and Kagome-san go up the mountain to find Sesshomaru. Leave the area down here to us."
"Right."
...
CRACKLE!
BOOM!!
Alternating fire and lightning attacked relentlessly, blowing half the feather away.
'They're on guard...'
Maintaining her balance, Akame furrowed her brow.
These two youkai were coordinating well, refusing to let her get close.
And in the air, her speed advantage was difficult to leverage.
'If only I had more footholds...'
The three extra feathers from Kagura weren't enough—she couldn't close the distance.
"Hm?"
Suddenly thinking of something, Akame looked up.
She had a plan!
"Hmph, no matter what you do, you can't get close."
"How long can those flimsy, defenseless feathers protect you?!"
Kinka and Ginka watched Akame start moving and sneered.
In their vision, Akame crouched on the feather, then ascended.
"Hm?"
"She can't be planning to jump down?"
Confused, the two couldn't figure it out. But then Akame kicked off the feather and dove down horizontally—stunning them.
"She really jumped!"
"Tch! Has she lost her mind?"
Jumping from that height would be fast, but without footholds to change trajectory, she'd be a perfect target.
"Die!"
Not missing this chance, fire and lightning intertwined and formed a massive energy blast shooting upward.
They could already envision this woman being obliterated without a trace.
SWISH!
But Akame threw out a new feather first, enlarging it, then twisted and jumped sideways.
WHOOSH!
The attack passed through where the feather had been, not harming Akame.
"I see—using the feather for a surprise attack?"
"Too bad—not fast enough."
Watching Akame use another feather to create a foothold, the two didn't take it seriously.
But Akame was focusing...
Crack...
"?"
Debris began falling from the side. Below, Kinka and Ginka looked up in shock.
"Could it be?"
"How—"
Realization dawned, and their expressions changed.
She'd deliberately moved above, then jumped down as bait, using their attack to trigger a rockslide...
"The real footholds... are these!"
By the time they realized, Akame was already leaping from falling rock to falling rock, closing in rapidly.
"Get away from her!!"
"Too late!"
"Cover the places she'll strike with scales and shell!!"
In the blink of an eye, the crisis had arrived.
If that blade wounded them, they'd surely die like the previous Demon Youkai.
They had to block Akame's surprise attack.
But unfortunately...
They found they'd overestimated themselves.
"Can't..."
"See her!!"
The sudden acceleration exceeded what their eyes could track.
Like afterimages, her figure flickered around them.
Unable to predict where she'd strike, scales and shell began covering their bodies, sealing off every possible target.
"[Eliminate]!"
Yet that flashing blade still found the opening in their defenses.
Exhale...
Taking a light breath, Akame used the last feather to carry herself as she watched the two Demon Youkai fall separately.
Just gatekeepers had pushed her this far.
Without Murasame, she might have been completely stuck.
The youkai world was truly filled with inexplicable things—just like those Danger Beasts.
"That's..."
Suddenly noticing the figure jumping up from below, Akame paused in curiosity.
The small stature and the arrows on her back... somehow resembled someone she'd seen before.