Update (June 2020): Chapter edited and lengthened, including new details!
Chapter 19: An Alliance of Dark Intentions
The sun sets for another day in Edo, and we zoom in on a dirt path deep within a nearby forest as a group of mercenary men ride horseback from a successful raid, laughing over their latest pillage.
"Respectable hoard, wouldn't you say, chief? Look at those bales of rice!"
"Hehahaha, who would've thought that tiny village would have such a large storehouse?"
One of the other grimy-dressed fellows, however, feels a strange chill in the air, and warns the rest,
"Let's hurry out of this area instead of setting up camp for the night."
"Huh?"
"They say when the sun sets, the monsters come out around here."
The chief isn't impressed by such a comment.
"What kind of outlaws are ya, running from goblins?"
"...Hey, chief! Look up ahead!"
He does so, and spots a tall figure highlighted by the setting star in the distance. That said figure...was Sesshōmaru! The leader of the bandit group, is of course unaware of who - or what - he is, and merely replies with a smirk,
"That's no demon; it's only a human!"
"A human with armor and weapons, no doubt!"
"Ha, kill him and strip his weapons!"
With that, the mercenaries raise their makeshift swords and began to charge at Sesshōmaru!
...If only they realized how grave a mistake they made.
Suddenly, the dog demon brandishes out a monstrous blue-skinned arm from where his previous one used to be attached, flexing the fingers while his eyes flash a blood red.
(...SLASH)
In just one stroke of the claws, the mercenaries were slaughtered to the point their bodies evaporated to ash!...Sesshōmaru lands swiftly on a nearby rock protruding from the mossy earth, and we zoom in on his new arm as it begins...sizzling and cracking. As it turns out, the appendage was only temporary...
Coming out of the tall grass shortly after, Jaken congratulates his lord's skill.
"Once again, you made quick work of them! Very impressive, master. I must say, slaying that blue demon earlier and pillaging its arm was a splendid idea!"
"...Open your eyes, fool."
Sesshōmaru rips the arm off, much to the imp's shock, and the latter backs up a bit as the appendage is thrown his way.
"This arm has already been rendered useless."
"Oh dear, that didn't last very long..."
(...Twitch, grab)
"Owah!"
The arm of course, wasn't completely through with life yet, grasping Jaken around his middle. As the imp struggles to break free of its hold, the dog demon orders in a cool tone,
"Go and find a more suitable demon, and bring me back its arm. Know that if you don't, I will have to kill you."
Jaken froze at that cautionary threat, before getting back to his current problem.
"Gya-gyh! Release me at once!"
He finally escapes the hand, kicking the entire appendage away from him just as the flesh begins to disintegrate, leaving only the bone behind...Jaken pants in exhaustion as he laments to himself in a woeful tone,
Mother was right: I should've been a ferryman...
He then turns to look at his master's figure as he mentally rants,
This is entirely that Inuyasha's fault for severing Lord Sesshōmaru's arm!
...It is not the sword severing the arm that I direct my hatred towards, but toward the beast who wielded it!
Inuyasha...By all rights, the sword belongs to Lord Sesshōmaru, and we shall take it back from Inuyasha without fail!
At the same time the imp made that heated proclamation, his master had turned focus to his empty arm socket.
"...Even if I am provided with another arm, it shall also become useless after a short period."
"...A vexing problem, isn't it?"
Sesshōmaru looks behind him where the new voice came from, and standing in the tall grass a small distance away, is a figure wearing a robe and mask made from the fur of a baboon...Jaken ducks behind his lord, and the figure speaks again, his voice deep and with a dark undertone.
"If I am not mistaken, you are the elder brother of Inuyasha, Lord Sesshōmaru, are you not?"
"What do you want? Should I know you?"
"I am someone whom like yourself despises Inuyasha. Forgive me, but I happened to overhear your conversation just now..."
The figure then holds out an arm to the dog demon.
"Perhaps I can be of assistance. Might I suggest employing this arm?"
Jaken has a gander at the appendage, and is not impressed by its obvious origins.
"Have you lost your senses?! Clearly, that is the arm of a human!"
The figure is not fazed, and explains with a smile,
"Yes...clearly. This arm did belong to a mortal, but embedded in it, is a shard of the sacred Shikon-no-Tama."
"The Shikon-no-Tama?"
"Should you choose to employ this arm, the shard will enable you to wield the Tessaiga, Inuyasha's fabled sword. The sword is known to work for the benefit of man, and at present, a demon such as yourself will be unable to even touch the Tessaiga."
"...You mentioned something about your despising Inuyasha. Tell me, do you intend to use me to exact your revenge?"
"Yes."
Jaken chews the figure out on his lord's behalf.
"How dare you exploit my master-"
"Hm, sounds interesting. I shall accept the arm from you."
The imp is flabbergasted by Sesshōmaru's agreement, and tries to persuade otherwise.
"Master, please reconsider!"
"Oh, and one other thing..."
The baboon-furred figure then holds up a small spherical hive.
"Take this hive; you should be able to make good use of it with certainty."
The dog demon takes it for his own hand, and says,
"I should know the one of whom I made a pact with."
"...My apologies. Call me, Naraku."
"Very well, Naraku. You have yourself a deal."
...
...
As that dark pact was being forged, we catch up with our four travelers as they settle for the night in a new village, more specifically, an inn...Coraline says while grabbing a bite to eat,
"Hah, one of the cool things I find with travelin' is all the new and exciting places you get t' stay at. Not that I don' enjoy sleeping outdoors now an' again, but it's good t' stay in places like this inn every once in a while."
"Well excuse me for letting us sleep in the wild all the time."
"Easy there. Why're you suddenly so snappy? I just said tha' outdoors and indoors are both good, didn't I?"
Shippō offers a suggestion regarding Inuyasha's current mood.
"He's probably put out because coming here was Miroku's idea. With food like this, who cares who's idea it was?"
As the red-heads both smile in agreement, the half-demon huffs...Outside, the monk places another protection sutra on one of the supporting beams of the place.
"There, that should suffice. With the last seal in place, the dark cloud that hovers over your tavern shall disappear for good."
The innkeeper expresses his gratitude:
"I am forever in your debt, good monk. Goodness me, when you appeared on my doorstep claiming that an evil cloud hovered overhead, why I, I almost jumped out of my skin in fear! Hehe, but now thanks to your exorcism, I can sleep easy."
"(Smile) It is all in a day's work for a simple monk."
Back inside, Shippō lets out a sigh of satisfaction after finishing his fill of the food.
"Aaah, I can't eat another bite..."
Coraline is just as happy:
"That was a good meal, indeed."
She then spots Miroku coming back into the room.
"Oh, hey! How'd the exorcism go?"
"Uneventful. Now I'm ready for some relaxation."
...Inuyasha then forms a frown and says,
"Hold up a moment, Miroku. There's something I haven't been able to figure out about your powers."
"Yes?"
The half-demon comes over to the monk and states in an accusing tone,
"Whenever we're lookin' for a place to bed down, you seem to be able to detect an 'ominous, dark cloud' over what happens to be the finest tavern in the area. How is that?"
"Oh? You noticed that, did you?"
Miroku smiles and waves his hand while saying offhandedly (though with an undertone of mischief),
"Well, they say that a falsehood is sometimes the expedient path."
Inuyasha is stunned speechless by the other male's casual confession, and Shippō exclaims in his own surprise,
"You mean there wasn't any cloud?!"
Coraline calmly sips her tea and thinks to herself,
Seems my own suspicions were correct...no' to mention I wasn't pickin' up anything with my Aura Sight...
"Geez, you're shiftier than I thought!"
"Partake in my share of the spoils and your opinion of me will soften."
The fox demon grabs the bowl of offered dumplings when Inuyasha doesn't.
"Sweet dumplings!"
"You're just as bad as he is!"
The other redhead smiles tiredly and tries to mediate the atmosphere.
"Take i' easy, Inuyasha. I admit that I'm not impressed by the lies eith'r, bu' as long as Miroku's not causin' any real problems, I say what the hell?"
(...Rumble...)
Suddenly, the grounds of the inn begin to shake, causing everyone to tense up.
"What, is that?"
Shippō jumps into Coraline's arms frightened.
"I don't like the sounds of this!"
Inuyasha and Miroku ready themselves with their respected weapons, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"I dunno, but whatever it is, it's big."
"Yes. Let's run."
"What?! No way! You can't just eat and run!"
The monk maintains a calm expression and retorts,
"If the demon is truly that big, then we are no match for it. It's irrational, it's impossible, it's against my religion."
"(Deadpan) You oughta be arrested."
That's when the girl from another era senses it.
"Hh!"
(Ba-bump...)
"There's a jewel fragment nearby, and it's comin' up fast!"
It's also cloaked by a demonic aura...one I swear I recognize from somewhere, bu' where?
"Oh, well that's a change. We've never had them bring us the jewels before."
Miroku matches Inuyasha's smirk as he comments after the latter,
"I suppose if there's a jewel fragment involved, I can afford a little effort," and he takes off.
"Hey! This one's mine!"
...
Down below in the village, the people were beginning to feel a change in the atmosphere as well.
"What's making that sound?"
"Sounds like a thunder storm...Uh?!"
Suddenly, a large shadow begins floating into the area...belonging to a giant, clawed hand!
"AAAAH!"
The appendage comes slamming down onto the earth as a large row of teeth belonging to the head of the creature came into the moonlight, gleaming menacingly...Pulling back, we see they're the same giant oni that attacked Inuyasha and Coraline several weeks ago! The villagers begin fleeing for their lives as homes are crushed by the beast...By this time, our quartet of travelers arrive on scene.
"Over there!"
The girl gasps, remembering the monster.
"It's tha' giant, the one tha' attacked Inuyasha and I once before!"
And if it's here...does that mean...?
Confirming the redhead's suspicions, situated on the giant's right shoulder was that master and servant duo, namely, Sesshōmaru and Jaken!
"...That's Sesshōmaru!"
Said dog demon jumps off the massive oni, diving at the group with poison claws poised to attack! Everyone barely manages to scramble away, and Inuyasha lands back on the ground while covering his face from the acidic fumes...
"As usual, you're slow to take action, little brother."
"Koff-kh, Sesshōmaru. To what 'honour' do we owe this visit?"
"Spare me the feigned innocence. I am here for the Tessaiga, of course."
Inuyasha grabs the handle of the said sword.
"Keh, still haven't given up on it, huh?"
Back behind some boulders and bushes, Miroku asks Coraline,
"They know one another?"
"Unfortunately, yes. He's Inuyasha's older half-brother."
"Remarkable."
"But unlike Inuyasha, Sesshōmaru is a full dog demon."
So, he's still hell-bent on acquirin' Tessaiga. Has he forgotten tha' the sword rejected 'im?
What could've changed?
"Draw your sword now, Inuyasha. Or will you surrender it now without having to battle?"
"No chance. This time I'll take off more than just one of your arms!"
(Shhhing)
"Rrrraaaaahhh!"
Inuyasha goes to attack Sesshōmaru, but the latter is faster than the former's swings, and does not forget to repute the observation either.
"Such a pity. I see you haven't managed to uncover the full power of the Tessaiga."
"Oh yeah?! We'll see about that! Hrrrah!"
The half-demon comes at his brother again, but the latter readies his poison claws...
(GRASP)
Sesshōmaru then ceases the wrist holding the dog fang katana.
The others could only watch with stunned expressions as the older dog demon mocks Inuyasha's skill.
"Such pitiful swordsmanship. The little man is having trouble holding his sword."
(Siiiizzzz...)
The acidic poison begins to corrode the younger dog demon's skin, causing him to cringe in pain as he struggles to maintain his grip on the hilt of his blade...
"The flesh is burning from his wrists!"
"It's those damn poison claws!"
Sesshōmaru taunts,
"Your wrist or the sword: which will drop first?"
"Rrrrgh, well it ain't gonna be the sword!"
Inuyasha then takes his free hand and grasps the lower end of the sword handle...
Before Sesshōmaru knew it, he was pushed back by his younger brother!
Miroku is impressed:
"He overpowered him!"
The half-demon then shouts,
"I'll slit you in half, you sad excuse for a demon!"
"You should have surrendered."
Sesshōmaru then launches himself backwards, before sending his poison whip against Inuyasha! The latter uses Tessaiga to block the attacks, before one slash of the whip knocks the sword out of his hands!
(...TOK)
The weapon lands in the ground a distance away, and the full dog demon would reach the blade first.
"Oh no!"
Using the arm that Naraku provided him...Sesshōmaru manages to take hold of the handle, much to the shock of the two teenagers who recall the previous failure in such an attempt.
"Impossible!"
"But how?! He shouldn' be able to even touch Tessaiga!"
(...Sheen...)
Suddenly, the female human spots those strange glyphs fading onto the dog fang...However, rather than glowing that lapis blue colour, they instead shone amaranth purple.
"The Weapon Glyphs...They're differ'n' from before..."
"You know what those symbols are?"
She turns to meet eyes with Miroku and nods,
"Aye-er, yes. It's the los' language of a weapon's life force, a rare phenomenon very few souls can translate nowadays. Previously, when I, unintentionally removed Tessaiga from its resting place, it spoke to me, tellin' me who d'eir true wielder is."
"I see...Am I correct to assume that wielder is Inuyasha?"
"Righ', and the sword blatantly rejected Sesshōmaru's hold...which is why I don' quite understand why it's allowin' him to hold their hilt now...Though perhaps..."
Coraline refocuses on the battle as the dog demon lord easily sends a wave attack at Inuyasha, and narrows her eyes as she mutters,
"Perhaps i' has t' do with wha'ever message is bein' reflected on the blade this time..."
I'm too far back t' read, bu' I can sense a warning brewin' in tha' new glow.
Yer headin' for dangerous waters, Sesshōmaru.
Her half-demon companion would be too blinded with disbelief to sense what she was picking up, landing back on the ground as the dust settles from that wave of power.
But Sesshōmaru is a demon! Why is he able take hold of the Tessaiga?!
Though the older dog demon does cast a curious glance at the glyphs on the katana, he keeps his main focus on taking charge of his believed destiny.
"I'm the Tessaiga's rightful owner. Stand back as I demonstrate it's true power. Jaken."
"Yes, my lord! I shall summon all the demons down from the mountain!"
The imp directs the demon giant towards the mountainside, and orders,
"Goooo, foooorth!"
The massive monster raises one of its hands, and smashes the palm hard against a patch of the forest below...An ominous light then emits from the crater, and dozens upon dozens of demon spirits come flying out into the sky!
"Witness this, and learn from the master, Inuyasha. With one stroke, I shall slaughter one hundred demons!"
(SLASH)
Sesshōmaru then sends a three-tine, bright royal yellow claw mark from Tessaiga, and the energy soars through the air before hitting the demon spirits dead on, killing them instantaneously!...Inuyasha watches the scene dumbstruck:
"No...It can't be!"
Once the dust and excess power settle, we see all that's left behind from the attack, namely, a huge split in the ground exposing molten rock and sparking embers!...On the sidelines, Coraline, Shippo and Miroku were stuck in a daze, the second being the first to utter fearfully,
"The mountain...!"
The monk then mutters,
"He slayed the demons...and he also split the mountain!"
Sessōhmaru turns his half-brother's way again, a near-triumphant gleam in his eyes.
"Now do you see? This sword, formed from our own father's fang reigns supreme. Unfortunately, contrary to what that mortal girl once said, the Tessaiga is not capable of choosing its owner. But perhaps you, a mere half-breed, now realize that you can never master it."
(...Ba-bump...)
"Mm?"
Though in a double-counter to the dog demon's own arrogant words, the amaranth purple glyphs on the fanged katana throb in a show of-dare we say, aggravation. Once more...part of the clouded energy suddenly travels from the blade and up the hilt, sparking upward like wild lightning bolts to zap against the hand holding them!
"Gh!"
What's this?...Tessaiga is angry, but for what reason?
Inuyasha grits his teeth from the insult, but he too is a little confused by the sword's action.
...Tessaiga...
Finally, Coraline also senses the sudden change in the weapon's emotions.
The blade may be following Sesshōmaru's directions, bu' it's obviously not ou' of their volition.
...They know where they belong, (...sheen) an' no new arm can change that.
...What is that appendage's origin, anyway? I' can't be a demon or the sword would'a reacted sooner.
"I need a closer look."
The girl makes the motion to head into the more open area, but Miroku calls her to a stop.
"Hold it Coraline, stop right there! I shall go. Both of you make sure you stay behind me."
"...You're gonna use your Wind Tunnel, aren' you?"
The monk nods in confirmation...Meanwhile, despite the disquiet he felt radiate from the sword in his hand, Sesshōmaru declares,
"Your blood shall stain this sword. Truly a fitting end for you, is it not?"
Inuyasha silently vows,
Never! I'll never let him keep the Tessaiga!
Said katana seemed to share their true master's mindset, as shown in the very quick shift from amaranth purple to a meld of silver and crimson, before settling back into the former colour...Suddenly, Miroku comes to stand in front of Inuyasha, with Coraline coming up behind the latter.
"I'm afraid I cannot stand to listen to this any longer. I must put an end to this foolish sibling rivalry."
"Hey, butt out!"
The older dog demon narrows his eyes a bit at the young male with the rat tail.
That monk...
The half-demon tries to take back control of the situation.
"I can handle this!"
"Not on your own you can't."
"Back off, creep! I wanna stand in the front!"
"Don't be such a stubborn mule!"
"That's rich coming from you!"
Coraline tries to mediate their argument:
"Guys, please; d'is is not th' time or place to go into a contest of testosterone!"
Meanwhile, Jaken notes Miroku's arrival from atop the shoulder of the giant oni.
"Naraku spoke of a certain monk...Could this be the same young man before us?"
(Flash)
"Journeying with Inuyasha is a young monk. He will prove to be more troublesome than Inuyasha himself..."
(Flash)
"Ha! He doesn't look as troublesome as any other mortal."
The imp then silently orders the giant forward, causing the ground to shake a bit...
"My lord! Allow me to finish the monk off! No sense on wasting your energy on such a feeble opponent!"
"...As you wish. I shall observe."
"Onward! Crush them all!"
...Just as the demon giant began to raise its hand against those four, Miroku quickly moves up front.
"Move back! Wind Tunnel!"
(Whoooooosssshhhh...)
The black hole in his right hand is unleashed, and Sesshōmaru - who for once is visibly surprised - immediately leaps back as far as he could, using Tessaiga to keep himself steady against the sucking wind current...The giant oni on the other hand, wasn't as lucky, and begins to get sucked in, starting from one of its hands...
"No, stop this!"
Jaken panics and sprints away from the vortex as the demon giant gets pulled in even further...Shippō calls to Miroku while holding the monk's shakujō,
"You show him, Miroku!"
Coraline is just as jubilant:
"You go' this; pull that demon into oblivion! (Turn) And don't worry Inuyasha: we'll get Tessaiga back from tha' arrogant i'git soon."
"Feh, damn right."
Sesshōmaru observes Miroku's attack for a moment longer, before deciding to employ a counterattack.
I suppose, this is good a time as any...
(Flash)
"This is the hive of the Saimyōshō, the Insects of Hell. This will prove extremely useful in plugging the hole in the monk's right hand."
(Flash)
The dog demon takes out the spherical hive he was given.
"Huh, we shall see if Naraku is correct."
(Toss, POW...Buuuuzzzzz...)
The hive bursts at the seams, releasing a large drone of insects with a likeness to the Asian Giant Hornet, though obviously larger and with purple thoraxes rather than dark brown, demon red eyes with black slit-like pupils, and are armed with stingers much more dangerous than their non-demon counterparts...As the giant oni's head becomes half-consumed, Miroku notices the wasps coming, and before he knew it, they were diving willingly into the Wind Tunnel!
"Giant, insects!"
Inuyasha and Coraline see them too.
"What are those, killer wasps? Wait...they're not being sucked in; they're diving in!"
"What, are these?!"
...Suddenly, the monk feels a surge of pain in his cursed hand.
"GH!"
Miroku immediately cancels the Wind Tunnel, crouching to one knee while muttering with some strain in his voice,
"Inuyasha, you'll have to take over."
Both teens ask with worry,
"Miroku, what's wrong?"
"What did they do to you?"
The demon giant falls on his face from the impact of the Wind Tunnel, and Jaken flees from the battle area as the insects go to continue their assault...Inuyasha uses his claws to destroy some of them.
"Iron Reaver, Soul Stealer!"
(Slash, slash...)
As he took care of the insects, Coraline hurries to the other young man's side.
"Miroku, can y' stand up?"
"The insects have poisoned me with their venom..."
"Crap, I thought so!...A-hh!"
A couple of the Saimyōshō come diving at the two humans, Shippō leaps in to use his illusionary abilities to fend them off.
"Fox Fire!"
(Foooom)
"Watch yourself, Shippō!"
"Don't worry, I can handle 'em! Ah, owah!"
The fox demon is then forced to flee when the giant wasps see through his trick...
"Shippō!"
"Miroku, don't move. I'll ge' th' anti-venom!"
Coraline begins running back to find her satchel and backpack, stopping briefly to holler,
"Inuyasha! Keep an eye on Miroku!"
Said half-demon claws away some more of the poisonous wasps, and lands on the ground before calling back somewhat irritably to the monk,
"Come on, Miroku! How 'bout a little help here?"
The latter looks up at the former as sweat begins to drip from his forehead, and he calls back in a strain,
"Sorry, Inuyasha. The venom's gotten to me. Gh, how could insects, have blocked the use of my hand?"
As Miroku begins to feel the grip of death close in on his being, Inuyasha shifts gears by piercing his claws into his injured wrist to draw blood, and sends that substance-based attack against Sesshōmaru.
"Blades of Blood!"
In response, his half-brother blocks the hardened blood blades with Tesssaiga...Of course, the whole exercise was meant as a distraction so the silverette could grab the injured monk, then duck behind the demon giant's body. Shippō scurries to their sides shortly afterward...
"You owe me big time for this one, Miroku."
Yet as he says that, Inuyasha notices the expression of pain on his newest companion's face.
Wait, he said something about venom. Is Miroku in serious trouble?
The fox demon peeks from behind the massive course...and immediately sidesteps back to the other two males when he sees trouble approaching.
"Gah! Uh, we've got company coming!"
By company, he of course meant Sesshōmaru, he slowly making his way over to where the three were, the intent being on destroying his half-sibling.
"He has no hope..."
Inuyasha thinks to himself furiously,
Now what do I do? We're trapped; one strike with the Tessaiga, and we're all done in...
"This is the end for you...Die."
(SWIPE, SLASH)
Sesshōmaru sends that three-tine claw attack again, cutting straight through the gigantic corpse and seemingly killing all three souls hiding behind it!
(BOOM)
...
...
The dust settles, and all that remains of the once proud giant oni is a mass mile of charred remains...But then, Inuyasha bursts from the fleshy rubble, revealed to be alive if a bit roughened up. It's safe to say Shippō and Miroku are okay too...
Anyway, the silverette glares heatedly at Sesshōmaru, and the older of the two dog demons chuckles before saying mockingly,
"Your stupidity knows no bounds. Run and hide while you can; that, and only that is your choice now. Then again, maybe you should stand and face your death. At least then you would be dying with honour."
"Blah, blah, blah. The guy starts swingin' a big, new sword around and suddenly he's looking for a soap box to stand on and preach to the world..."
A bitter chuckle escapes Inuyasha as he sends an equally grim smirk at his brother.
"Let me give you a piece of advice now that I've got your attention: if you're going to kill someone, make sure you do it right the first time. Because if you only maim them with the first attack...they have a nasty way of coming back to make you regret it! (Leap) Like this! Raaaahhh!"
(Slash-TANG)
His claws are blocked by Tessaiga, and Sesshōmaru leaps into the air as a reflection of his patience reaching its end.
"Silence! I, have heard, enough!"
...But just when it looks like the half-demon would be cut down, he uses the sheath to block the incoming blade!
He's holding off the Tessaiga, with the Tessaiga sheath!
Inuyasha grins in anticipation of getting one over his half-brother...just as Jaken bursts out of the remains of the giant oni. As it turned out, he didn't escape the indirect line of fire either.
"Lord Sesshōmaru nearly killed me, his servant, with his own blow! His blatant disregard for ally or foe when he sets his mind on killing someone is much more terrifying than his awesome power! Oooh, my future may not be in good hands..."
(...Grab)
"Doh!"
Suddenly, Miroku and Shippō rise out of the flesh and bone, the former grasping the top of the imp's head.
"You! You're still alive!"
"Imp, perhaps you could explain something..."
The monk pulls Jaken close to his face as he asks with a new edge in his voice (momentarily ignoring the poison in his veins),
"How is it that we have never met, but unless I'm mistaken, you two brought along those insects specifically to obstruct my Wind Tunnel?"
"Uh, uh...we did? Um, yes..."
The fox demon then spots the imp making gestures for Nintōjō.
"Look out!"
He and Miroku barely duck away from the staff's flames, tumbling down the pile of flesh...Shippō sends a glare at Jaken.
"You miserable-!"
"Hahahaha, a weak monk and a fox child! I am powerful enough to take you both on at once!"
...While things heat up for those two, the battle of strength between half and full dog demon continues...
"Please; trying to defend against my blade with a sword sheath?"
"Yeah, but this is no ordinary sheath! You'll change your mind soon enough, when I use it crack open that head of yours!"
Back overhead, Shippō began using his illusion attacks to defend Miroku from Jaken...
"Is that all you got?! Come on!"
"How's about, this?!"
"You fool!"
The enchanted top is knocked away by Nintōjō, and the fox demon lands back on the ground as he feels his frustrations grow.
"I don't get it; that one always works!"
Miroku tries to persuade the young fox to flee and forget him.
"Save yourself, Shippō. Don't worry about me."
But the latter refuses to abandon the monk.
"I'm staying!"
(Fwooooom)
"Ah!"
The two males dodge another shot of fire from Jaken, retreating from the area as far back as they're able...Back over at the two feuding half-brothers, Sesshōmaru encourages Inuyasha to try and prove their claim.
"Oh really? Let's see you prove it."
He then pushes his younger sibling back, and leaps a good distance away before dashing back forward, sending a number of attacks with the sword...eventually knocking the sheath out of the latter's hands!
...As the scabbard tumbles away, Sesshōmaru proclaims,
"One strike. One more strike and it's over."
The dog fang katana is raised at ready...
But then...
(Twok...TOK-TANG)
An arrow flies through the air, hitting the Tessaiga dead-on and causing it to transform back into its dormant form!...We also notice a faint gleam of lapis fade over the amaranth purple glyphs for a short moment before fading back altogether...
The Tessaiga's transformed back!
"...Sesshōmaru!"
The two half-brothers turn their attention to their right/left, and standing atop the boulder by the stairs leading to the higher section of the village is Coraline, bow and arrow in hand and furious look abound!...She then calls to the older dog demon with malice in her tone,
"Drop Tessaiga now, or th' next arrow that flies will be driven righ' down yo' throat!"
"Coraline...!"
"Inuyasha, ge' out of range!"
Sesshōmaru stares at the redhead with a new interest.
That woman's arrow cancelled out the Tessaiga...
Miroku mentally quirks in his own surprise,
Then it must be true: Coraline really is the reincarnation of the priestess!
Contrary to the monk's thought, mind you, the girl herself was feeling anything but holy.
Ye've prolonged this farce far enough, you canine bastard...
(Sheen) Now, it's time t' take back control of the battle!