Lord Shunswei's Quarters
"So you really killed all of them, the rumors are true the master of shadows is truly a skilled ninja," the lord Shunswei said, two guards flanking him as he sat on his cushion two banners raised above his head as his guards stood stiffly by the door.
"My reward?" the masked figure asked, ignoring the praise.
"Please don't concern yourself," a guard approached, opening the box revealing the pink gem shard and kneeling in front of the shinobi. "As promised the shikon jewel shard is yours." The armored hand reached out and took a jewel fragment, several silent moments passed before the fist closed, crushing the gem to pieces. Heh they thought they could fool me, damn them, the masked man thought to himself.
"You think you can fool me?" he asked in a deadly tone, "Where is the jewel fragment." The lord Shunswei glared back at the masked figure, a haunting smile starting to form on his face. The masked man's eyes narrowed at the lord. Something isn't right, he thought to himself, readying his blades at any moment.
"Unfortunately, I will not give such a prize to the likes of someone like you but perhaps you would like another reward? A rank, a wealth of gold-"
"I want what I was promised, don't try to pull tricks on me," the masked man hissed menacingly as both blades extended from their metal sheathes, glinting in the candle light. Suddenly the doors on his side and behind him opened and a dozen samurai surrounded him half a dozen more armed with bows on the balcony above them. The masked man scoffed a this, relaxing his stance a bit.
"Fool, do you think you can make demands of me? I am lord of this castle and your reward has been arranged for another demon I'm afraid," the lord Shunswei chuckled holding his sleeve to his mouth. "Kill him, men."
"Yes my lord!" they said in unison as the arrows flew from the balcony, the shadow's blades swung to intercept, cutting them all out of the air before any struck him, he grabbed the large shuriken on his back each hitting three of the archers before returning to him. The sword and spearmen charged with weapons raised before three shadow copies of the mercenary sprung from the ground, slicing the spearheads from their shafts.
"He really is a user of darkness!" a spearmen said as they retreated and the swordsman advanced.
"Fools! They are but illusions! Kill him!" the lord Shunswei screamed, his face looking less human by the minute. The masked man glared back at the lord and assessed his face more carefully. Something is wrong with this lord Shunswei, he seems. . . Suddenly it dawned on him, the hostile behavior, the creepy elation in his eyes that he only ever saw in the demon he always killed. His eyes narrowed at the lord, thinking carefully how to rid of him without the need of a mess.
"You underestimate me at your own peril," the master of darkness stated as he countered blade attacks kicked the corrupt soldiers away after slicing their throats or gullets. The last few ran in fear as they screamed hysterics about sorcery and magic. The supposed lord Shunswei roared in anger, his eyes flashing red and his skin started to melt away, his tongue extending swirling around.
"Ahahahaha so you've figured it out human, now you will become my dinner," the demon hissed, his face turning green, revealing his lizard-like head. The masked man didn't flinch at this, having seen worse before.
"Tell me demon," the masked man said, not flinching as the demon started to approach him, crouching as if in the hunt. The demon cackled loudly without answering, as he kept approaching the masked man even more closely. He readied himself to send another shadow attack, his fingers prickling with the desire to crush this demon. As the masked man threw his hand to attack, he felt something suddenly grasp his wrist firmly, surprising him. He looked up to see the same half-demon from before holding his fist in a firm grip, his expression edged with rage.
"Stay out of it," the half-demon muttered dangerously, his eyes glancing at the demon crouching on the floor, a disgusted look crossing his features. "I need to ask this demon what he's done with Kaname." The masked man got annoyed at the interruption, but didn't let it show as he smacked his wrist free of the half-demon's grasp.
"I was handling it," he said calmly relaxing his stance a bit as he noticed that the monk from before had also entered the chamber, panting heavily from the run. He looked around the room taking in the blood and dead soldiers around. Miroku looked up and narrowed his eyes at the masked man, his hands clutching his staff tightly.
"Was this your doing?" the masked man didn't answer, instead he focused his attention on the demon as he seemed to be hissing at Inuyasha's sword.
"Miroku go find Kaname, Naraku seemed to be getting closer, I'll take care of this small fry."
"Inuyasha be careful," Miroku said, readying himself to run out, "this demon seemed to have masked his presence this whole time, that's probably how he caught Kaname off guard." Inuyasha growled menacingly running at the demon, swinging his sword aimlessly. The demon laughed, quickly jumping back, barely dodging Inuyasha's sword.
"So you're here to rescue your friend huh," the demon said, his tongue swirling around disgustingly. "Well your quite too late, your friend is already near death as it is and there is nothing your can do to stop it, now die!" The demon let out a large gush of sticky mucus, making Inuyasha back up barely dragging his heavy sword along.
"Let me take care of this Inuyasha!" Miroku came forth and grasped his right arm and was about to take out the beads binding the wind tunnel. "Wind Tun-"
"Stop you idiot, look!" They all looked up to see a bunch of bee-like insects come out of no where, buzzing over the demon's head in the dozens. What the hell are those, the masked man thought to himself, an uneasy feeling coming through his gut.
"Damn that Naraku," Inuyasha muttered, his eyes narrowing at the demon ahead of them.
Suddenly, the masked man felt a strong demonic aura from below, one even more tainted than any demon he had ever encountered. The presence shocked him so much that he found himself rushing out of the chambers without another look.
"Hey you-" He heard voices shouting for him, but he ignored them as he went rushing towards what seemed to be like the dungeons. The aura got filthier and filthier as he approached the staircase and rushed down, his feet pounding with aggression. He let out his blades, the darkness within him threatening to burst from the uneasiness he felt. There was something about this aura that didn't sit well with the masked man, it was suffocating, as if getting closer to it made him feel weaker by the step.
The masked man turned the corner and stopped dead of his tracks when he caught sight of the source of the aura.
"Ah so you are the infamous mercenary that that demon was telling me about." The masked man didn't respond, instead he stared at the demon, his face shrouded in what looked like to be a bamboo mask, his body cloaked in white furs.
"What are you," the masked man asked, glaring at the figure as it was crouched over a girl's body, as she lay unconscious on the dungeon ground, her face white as a ghost. The demon chuckled without responding instead he turned his head in the direction of the unconscious girl on the ground, as if that was explanation enough. "I don't come for any fight, I merely wish to take this girl with me, it has nothing to do with you, so why don't you run along." The masked man smirked under his mask, noticing the light gleaming inside this puppet of a demon before.
"Oh and I'm supposed to ignore the jewel shards that you have so nicely packed in your possession, puppet." The demon froze, not responding to this immediately, as if he were thinking of what to do next. The masked man didn't hesitate, he sensed the attack coming before it happened. He summoned the shadows and dodged the stabbing of the demon's escaped tentacles, quickly landing in front of the unconscious girl called Kaname. What exactly does he want with her, the masked man thought to himself, giving her a quick glance before going back to assess his opponent.
Unexpectedly the demon began to cackle loudly, his dark voice giving even the masked man shivers down his spine, as it reminded him of his brother's voice when he had descended into the evil that was his life. Fury mottled throughout his body, his body shaking in anticipation for the kill. I'll enjoy this, he thought to himself taking out his sword, wanting to release this sudden desire to stab this demon to death.
"Hiraikotsu!" a giant boomerang swung through the air towards before he stretched back limbo style to avoid it, nearly breaking his back as it flew back to its owner. Whirling around he glared at the attacker, annoyed at the interruption for his kill. The demon didn't seem fazed at this interruption at all, for he didn't even turn to see who it was. It was as if he merely swatted a fly.
"Sango, how pleasant for you to join us, tell me have you seen your brother around lately," the demon said his voice high and mocking.
"A demon slayer huh…" the mercenary said as the woman drew her sword and caught her larger weapon.
"Naraku, how dare you show your disgusting hide here." The masked man's eyes widen as he took in the rage and disgust drenching her features, her stance readying to attack again. "This one is mine, mercenary, leave,' she spat not even looking at the masked man, her eyes glued onto this Naraku's form.
"Kaname!" Another girl appeared then from behind the demon slayer, her eyes shooting straight for the girl behind the masked man. "Is she alright," she asked her gaze then landing on the masked man. He hesitated before answering, then merely nodded.
"Hahahaha you shouldn't relax now, now all of you will perish!" The masked man then didn't have time to think, he quickly grabbed Kaname into his arms and disappeared into the shadows, barely missing another attack by Naraku's tentacles. Whew that was close, he thought, looking down at the unconscious girl in his arms. He gasped as he felt how cold she had become, her skin turning whiter by the second. Is she dying, did the demon give her something, he pondered, before sensing another attack aiming for his head.
"Damn," he muttered shifting to side, the tentacles barely missing his arms by inches. Realizing the demon's goal, the masked man shifted Kaname over his houlder, quickly releasing the hidden blades at his wrists. The demon cackled maliciously, sending another few tentacles towards the masked man. The masked man laughed humorlessly, letting the darkness scorch his blade before slashing the tentacles with tremendous speed, pieces of flesh dropping to the ground. Immediately, a gas started to emit from the cut off flesh. Releasing a horrendous odor, making the masked man's eyes water slightly.
"Hehe, what nasty secret have you been hiding behind that nasty body of yours demon!" Naraku laughed in response, sending more tentacles after the masked man, his aim going directly for Kaname just as before. I better get her out of here if I'm gonna kill this thing, he thought to himself, as he kept dodging the tentacles not wanting more poison to be released from the room. The shadows began to circle his form, nearing his body so closely that he taste them wrapping around him and Kaname, creating a sort of shield.
"Hanate," he shouted picturing the shadows forming edges and surging forward in an alarming speed. The heat radiated throughout his body, the power giving him a sort of lightheadedness that one could only feel at their best. "Kill." He felt it before he saw it, as the shadow blades pieced Naraku's puppet form square in the chest, making him grunt in pain before everything started to turn into dust.
The head landed on the ground with a thump, pieces of it evaporating by the second. This didn't seem to make much difference as the head started to whisper a few words before decaying into nothingness.
"Kaname will come to me in time. I will see you again, mercenary." Then with a final cackle the demon puppet faded.