CHAPTER NINETEEN

Moonlight Battle Ends

'No. Impossible'

Inu stared in utter disbelief as a a pair of bright red eyes appeared beyond the dust where his fallen rival had been. Gleaming crimson orbs watched intently as this new demon made its way towards Inu. When it stepped beyond the dust Inu couldn't help but move back. Standing but a few feet in front of him was not a hanyou..... but a pure blooded demon.

'This can't be!'

The silver hair was flowing sideways even though there was no wind. The fangs and claws gleemed sharply in the moon light. The eyes were those of a blood thirsty monster looking for it's prey. This was indeed a full demon. Inu stepped back, but then noticed that it wasn't attacking. It was simply standing there with it's hands at it's sides. Inu stood for a second but then decided to attack while his foe was distracted. Again he raised his power to it's maximum.

"RAAAHHHHHH!!!!" At break neck speed the demon charged his enemy who was showign no signs of resistance. 'Got you!' Inu then felt the pain spread down his spine as he collided with the tree that had been behind the creature.

"Where aare you??!!" Inu raged as his claws ripped the tree in half. No one was there. He turned rapidly and saw the monster standing over where moments Inu himself had been. On the floor in front of the creature was a sword. Inu laughed as he realizd what was happening.

"So this is the power of the famous tessaiga?" He charged once more towards his enemy, but this time he concentrated on the demon blade instead of the demon itself. Just as he figured, Inuyasha was trying to grasp the tessaiga. Inu quickly put one hand on the sword and swiftly kicked the demon into the forest. It would have been a flawless attack had the barrier of the sword not thrown him in the opposite direction.

"Argh, this is annoying!!" Inu rushed once more towards the blade. At the same time a red blur lept out of the forest in front of him. 'Yes... I see now.' Inu got to the blade first and crouched in front of it. As he expected Inuyasha completely ignored him and went for the blade. This was his chance. As the inflicted hanyou flew past him Inu extended his claws which connected with his rival's face. Using the motion from his enemy, Inu simply held his hand out and let the force of motion do the rest. The end result was a bloody mess landing but a few feet away from tessaiga. Inu laughed again and stood at his full height.

"Idiot boy. Even transformed you're no match for me." Inu kicked the lump of bloody flesh and sent it into a tree where a loud crack followed by a thump assured Inu that the hanyou's back was broken in half. Calmly he strolled over to his discarded naraken and picked it up. The dark blade pulsated in his hand as he held it in front of his face.

"Such a shame. But worry not, I'll give you an honorable death by killing you with my ultimate attack." Inu turned in the direction of his enemy while picking his blade up over his head, but stopped at the mid section.

"Where the hell is he?"

He needn't ask this question for long. As he scanned the area he spotted Inuyasha clawing pitifully a few feet away from his own demon blade.

Inu's fanged smile spread even wider. "Stupid hanyou... that thing won't save you now. Watch carefully. NARAKEN!!!!!!!!" A swirl of light escaped the evil blade as the power of earth, fire, wind, and water combined were bent to the master's whim and rushed forward to annihilate the half-dead hanyou. It was a difficult task and Inu would be temporarily weakend after dealing the attack, but he would be the victor. Nobody could survive the ultimate power of naraken.

"Heh... pitiful hanyou... in the end.... I... am the true dog demon." Inu knelt down as he drew breath heavily. He was pained, but satisfied with the magnitude of the attack. Even though there was still dust in the air, Inu could plainly see the tract his attack had left in the ground. It must have been ten feet deep and more than fifty yards wide. It seemed to lead for miles. Yes.... this was enough to do away with one pitiful hanyou.

"Keh.... You thought... killing me... would make you.... a dog demon?"

Inu's eyes opened wide as he heard the voice from beyond the debris. It sounded as if the hanyou had taken quite a beating, but he was alive.

"Naraku... didn't.... tell you ... about my brother?"

Inu's eyes opened even wider as he heard the hanyou speak of another dog demon.

"NO!! You're lying!!" Clouded with rage Inu rushed foward towards the smoke to finish off this annoying weakling, but was met with a blade at his waist. In an instant he was sliced in half by the tessaiga. Before the pain fully set in Inu noticed tessaiga's sheath broken in half by Inuyasha's foot.

'The sheath... countered my ultimate attack?'

"I'm not lying..... Sesshoumaru.... is my brother... and.... I hate to admit... he's even stronger than me." Inuyasha spoke to the top half of Inu's body as it had landed closest to him. The eyes looked up at him full of hate.

"THEN I'LL KILL YOU BOTH!!" Faster than Inuyasha could ever imagine, Inu's lower half attatched itself and regenerated with the top part to make one full body again. At that Inu stood up and drew naraken out of it's sheath.

"I don't care how many I have to kill!!" The blade became a blur as it swept down on Inuyasha suddenly. The hanyou barely had time to react as he lifted tessaiga upwards in a defensive stance. Using both hands and in a kneeling position Inuyasha held back Inu's blade. "I will be the strongest of the dog demons!" Inu used all of his strength to bare down on the hanyou. Swirls of dust surrounded the two as their auras too began to collide. Finally Inuyasha gave way and lept backwards into a tree. From the moment his feet touched the limb he was on the move again on account that Inu's blade had sliced the tree in half at the trunk. Inuyasha landed on the ground a few feet away. He cringed as his broken back settled and the gashes across his body bled from the pressure he was putting on them.

"You seem to be in a bit of pain hanyou.... if you want I could fix that for you." Inuyasha set his eyes on the demon before him. There was no more room for error. The next attack would either make him or break him. With all the strength he could pull together Inuyasha focused on using his kaze no kizu to finish off this fight. He got into position but then noticed that Inu wasn't charging. He was merely standing there with a smirk on his face.

"What the hell? Let's finish this!" Inu only replied by raising his blade defensively. For a moment the two stood in silence. The wind picked up and danced around the figures as they stood facing each other with their blades at the ready. The forest had gone deafly ill. When the wind dropped Inu took it as a sign. He charged.

"RAAAAAGGGHH!!!" Gaining both speed and power as he linged towards the hanyou, Inu was planning to use his ultimate attack as he struck the final blow.

Inuyasha crouched down and prepared to swing his blade with all of his strength. This was going to be his only chance. He brought down his blade as Inu came closer and closer.

"KAZE NO.....!"

NARAK......!"

Niether of the two had a chance to finish off their attacks as their swords met at mid stroke. Since this was something that they hadn't planned on, both Inuyasha and Inu went hurtling backwards into the forest away from each other.

Considering his wounds Inuyasha took longer to stand back up which put him at a disadvantage. He raised himself off the ground and lunged forward at his already advancing enemy. The pain which shot from his cuts and bruises was becoming unbearable. It had already come to Inuyasha's attention that whenever this certain demon cut him his wounds would stay open for a while before healing. If he wanted to survive this deathmatch he had to steer clear of Inu's claws and blade.

"HAH! You're off guard!!" Inuyasha's tessaiga flew up instinctively as naraken came crashing down on it. The demon auras collided, Inuyasha sensed panic as he felt his arms give way.

'Damn! I can't hold him anymore! I need to end this now!'

With a side step Inuyasha ducked out of the naraken's path and slashed Inu on the side of his throat. The demon lept sideways to protect himself, but not before tessaiga indulged itself with the demon's blood. Inuyasha then attacked with a full frontal attack. He raised his sword over his head and slashed downwards at Inu. The demon lept back again, but he was completely unprepared for what happened next.

'Wha...'

Inu watched in horror as the now green tessaiga before him flung tiny needle sized blades at him with a tremendous speed. Most of the blades caught him in the chest, but a few tore away from the whole and hit his right arm as well as his blade.

'What is this attack?'

As he stared at the blade began to feel the pain of the attack. "What... have you done to me?" It felt as if though his veins were on fire. Inu looked down at his arms to find a green glow spreading out in through his arms in spider grids. He looked back up.

"Yeah... I had forgotten about that. Whenever tessaiga absorbs a demon's blood it gains a new power. Because you have such poisonous blood, it uses it as an attack. It's like a taste of your own medicine."

The hanyou was now standing fully erect with his sword resting on his shoulder. His stance of defiance was what gave Inu the inspiration for his final attack.

"Finish me hanyou." Inuyasha seemed taken aback by what Inu had said. "Keh! You're not worth the time." Inu listened carefully to the hanyou's voice. He was clearly in much pain and would not be able to counter his last hit. "Show no mercy to your enemies!!" He egged on Inuyasha. The hanyou simply turned around and glared at him. He dropped the tessaiga to his waist and pointed it at Inu, "Are you in that much of a hurry to die?" Inu clsoed his eyes and let out a roaring laugh.

"Hah! DIE!!!"

With all the force and energy Inu had built up in the short moments Inuyasha had given him, he stressed all of his power into the naraken and flung it at the stubborn hanyou. As it left his hands the blade became the color of the dark night and flashed through the air like a bolt of lightning. He was right. Inuyasha had now time to react and even if he had had enough time, he would have been too weak. the blade pierced through Inuyasha's heart with ease and lodged itself at a point to where it wouldn't be released by any conventional means.

As Inuyasha felt the blade pierce through him he cursed himself for letting his guard down. When the pain and darkness set in his eyes the hanyou let out a gasp and crumbled to the floor..... lifeless.

"HAHAHAHA!!!! I was the strongest!! I am the best... the only dog demon!!! YES!! YES!! YE......."

As the poison siezed his heart, Inu remembered the hanyou's words...

' "Naraku... didn't.... tell you ... about my brother?" '

At that point the little life Inu had left drained from him his lifeless body fell to the floor like his enemy.

A few yards away from the battle a lone tear fell on a cheek of one who had been watching the fight from a distance.

"Tell Naraku that it is done. That Inuyasha.... is no more." There was pain in Kagura's voice as she issued commands to the buzzing insect beside her. It flew off and she flew in the oppisite direction... towards the camp where Inuyasha's friends slumbered.

'Inuyasha you moron...... why didn't you wake your friends?'