Chapter 17

The Heartless all jumped together in one large mass, but by that time Inuyasha had already got his Tetsusaiga out and fired a wind scar. The Heartless in front were obliterated, but many more took their place. Inuyasha grabbed Kagome and jumped away as he slashed at the Heartless, clearing a path. Sora jumped away as well and attacked the Heartless on the way. They landed together, away from the Heartless swarm

"There are so many of them." Kagome said.

"Just more targets," Inuyasha said. "This will be easier than fighting demons. Sora, I'll take the hundred on the right."

"I'll get the ones on the left." Sora said and the two launched themselves at the Heartless. Each was in the middle of a swirl of darkness. Heartless jumped and slashed at them but they couldn't get close. Both Inuyasha and Sora spun around while slashing the Heartless and using their own attacks. They were two blurs as they spun and slashed, destroying Heartless as they went. They paused in the fighting and jumped away. Many of the Heartless were gone but still many remained.

"You cannot defeat them all, Inuyasha," Naraku said. "You will die and the Heartless will take your heart."

"Shut up, you bastard!" Inuyasha shouted and fired another wind scar. The attack hit the Heartless and tore through them. Smoke and dirt flew into the air as the attack went through the center of the Heartless mass, cutting a line through them. The remaining Heartless filled in the gap. Sora ran into the mass, cutting through the Heartless, not giving them any time to react as they were destroyed one by one.

"Now, Kagome." Inuyasha said and Kagome fired a sacred arrow. The light of the arrow cut the Heartless swarm again. Many were obliterated but still many remained. "Damn, there's no end to them."

"But we are hurting them," Kagome said. "We've destroyed many already."

"But still not enough to stop them." Inuyasha said.

"You cannot win, Inuyasha," Naraku said. "Surrender now."
"Never Naraku," Inuyasha said. "we'll destroy all your Heartless, no matter how many there are."

"Fool, you can never stop the Heartless," Naraku said. "Because the Heartless are never ending." He raised his hands again and summoned more Heartless.

"Damn." Inuyasha said.

"Oh, no." Sora said.

A sacred arrow suddenly cut through the newly formed mass, cutting it down by a third.

"Who did that?" Sora asked.

They looked where the arrow had come from a saw Kikyo standing with her bow ready again.

"It's Kikyo." Inuyasha said.

"So it is you Naraku, just as I thought," Kikyo said. "Whatever you are doing Naraku I will not let you win." She walked forward and into the swarm of Heartless. They did not even seem to realize she was there.

"What is going on?" Kagome asked. "Why don't the Heartless attack her?"

"It's because Kikyo doesn't have a heart," Inuyasha said. "They're not interested in her and don't even sense her."

"If she doesn't have a heart," Sora said. "Then she's protected against them."

Kikyo continued walking through the Heartless and approached Inuyasha and the others.

"Inuyasha, we must destroy these monsters now," Kikyo said. "I've seen what they can do and they're a bigger threat than Naraku right now."
"That's what we've been trying to do," Inuyasha said. "But we can't destroy them all."

"We must attack them all together," Sora said. "It's the only way. A combined attack might be able to destroy them all."

"Sounds good, let's do it." Inuyasha said and he and Sora ran at the Heartless, slashing them again. They cleared a path to the other side. Inuyasha fired a wind scar, destroying a large part of the Heartless mass while Sora cast several thunder spells in quick succession. Then together Kikyo and Kagome both fired a sacred arrow. The combined force of the two arrows created an explosion within the Heartless group. When the smoke from attack cleared all the Heartless were gone.

"We did it," Inuyasha said. "Now time for Naraku."

"You may have defeated those Heartless, Inuyasha," Naraku said. "But you will never defeat me. Prepare to become one with the darkness." Naraku grew. His body grew longer and turned dark. His ears became pointed and he grew fangs. "The power of the Heartless," he boomed in a gravelly voice. "and of the demons has made me more powerful than any." A Heartless symbol appeared on his chest. "There is no way you can win. Prepare to die." Dark energy began to appear in front of Naraku and he launched a beam at the group, scattering them. "This world shall soon be destroyed, and there is nothing you can stop it." He sent a beam of dark energy down the well, and the ground shook. "You have been searching for the keyhole and you have found it. It is in the well, and it leads to the heart of this world, which, in a matter of moments, will be gone, as will all of you."