The Dragon Jewel (VI)

When Sesshomaru and the Dragon Maiden Asumi discussed Ryūkotsusei's whereabouts, Han had no idea how brutal a battle it would be.

Sesshomaru's father, Toga, had fought to the very end without managing to kill Ryūkotsusei. He had only been able to seal him away at the cost of grave injuries.

Even after a hundred and fifty years, with the seal greatly weakening Ryūkotsusei's strength, he was still far too much for Sesshomaru and Han as they were now.

Perhaps Sesshomaru knew how powerful Ryūkotsusei was, but a hundred and fifty years had passed, and he was no longer who he had been back then. He surely wanted to fight his father's final opponent.

Han had been excited at first, but after hearing Jaken's account, her spirits inevitably sank.

She did not know how Jaken had learned all this, but the seemingly useless little monster actually had his own unique sources of information. Even when it came to events before he had met Sesshomaru, he usually knew what had happened.

So Han had no doubts about how vicious Ryūkotsusei was.

She did not want Sesshomaru to risk his life fighting such a savage monster.

"Sesshomaru, how dangerous is Ryūkotsusei?" Han asked hesitantly.

"Very powerful," Sesshomaru answered. Coming from the proud dog demon, that was already remarkably high praise.

Han's heart sank. Beneath that brief answer, she sensed Sesshomaru's battle lust beginning to boil.

Ryūkotsusei's Valley.

A hundred and fifty years was enough for the ruins left by that battle to come alive again.

Moss, green grass, and towering trees had spread throughout the valley over those long years.

"This is as far as you go," Sesshomaru said coldly. "Stay here."

"No, I'm coming too." This was the first time Han had openly opposed Sesshomaru. She suddenly realized that even he might not be confident he could escape Ryūkotsusei unscathed.

Sesshomaru did not turn around, nor did he refuse.

"Stay here, Yunai. If..." Han imagined the worst, and her voice fell. She could not bring herself to say that sorrowful word. "If... then go find Kikyo. Kikyo can protect you for the next three years. Then you'll be able to go home."

"Waaah, Han..." The white rabbit's round body trembled pitifully, and large tears fell onto the girl's supporting palm.

Han smoothed Yunai's soft, sleek fur, set the rabbit on the ground, and gave its head one last stroke before turning to follow the dog demon.

With tears brimming in its eyes, the white rabbit clung to Jaken and sobbed loudly.

They passed through the forest, crossed streams, leaped over waterfalls, and flew up steep ridges until they saw the great monster sealed against a cliff in the distance.

A hundred and fifty years had passed, yet his body remained as enormous as ever. Pinned against the cliff, he was almost as tall as the mountain itself.

"Father, is this the monster you failed to kill even at the very end?" Standing on the summit, Sesshomaru gazed at the monster's moss-covered body across from him and felt the merciless passage of time. That invincible man, his father, had also been dead for a hundred and fifty years.

Standing behind him, Han suddenly felt as though the distance between them had stretched beyond measure. Sesshomaru seemed to stand on the far side of a river of stars. Though she could see his back clearly, she could not reach him.

"Han, stay here," Sesshomaru said without turning.

"All right..." the girl answered softly.

This was his battlefield. She could clearly sense that he did not want her to intervene.

Only her request before they set out had persuaded him to bring her here. But this was probably as far as he would allow.

Han looked at the enormous, hideous dragon-shaped monster across from her. He had drawn on the power within the dragon bones and fused with them, yet the face of his original body remained visible in the center of the dragon's head, as ugly as a mask. A canine fang was lodged in the center of the monster's heart. It was probably the fang Sesshomaru's father had used to seal Ryūkotsusei.

Sesshomaru leaped down from the summit, landed on the fang, and pressed his Poisonous Claws against it. The sealing fang gradually dissolved in his venom.

Han sighed in disappointment. She should have known that Sesshomaru would not take advantage of Ryūkotsusei's seal to kill him. Yet when Sesshomaru actually chose to break the seal and pit himself against Ryūkotsusei, she still could not stop worrying.

Red light flashed from the wound over Ryūkotsusei's heart as he lay pinned to the cliff. The instant his Demon Power began flowing again, the wound healed. Ryūkotsusei slowly awakened from his hundred-and-fifty-year seal. Claws larger than Sesshomaru's entire body twitched, and the closed eyes in his masklike face slowly opened, revealing a crimson glow. Beneath the mask, the narrow eyes of the dragon's face opened as well, equally blood-red.

Ryūkotsusei struggled to pull himself free of the cliff. Over the long years of his imprisonment, he had almost become one with it.

As enormous as a mountain, Ryūkotsusei shook the entire valley and its countless peaks with every movement.

Ryūkotsusei moved the body he had not stirred for a hundred and fifty years, and the whole earth trembled.

Sesshomaru had jumped to the ground the moment the sealing fang dissolved, and now watched Ryūkotsusei slowly awaken.

A great monster's demonic aura could be powerful enough to alter the weather, and Ryūkotsusei was one such monster.

Demonic aura soared out of the valley. Han had been knocked down atop the mountain and could barely support herself with her longbow, but even Jaken and Yunai outside the valley were stunned by the enormous dark-purple Demonic Aura Vortex overhead. Yunai had nearly cried itself unconscious...

As Ryūkotsusei twisted, stones broke loose from the cliff. Great chunks of earth, timber, and rock crashed to the ground, throwing up thick clouds of dust.

"Sesshomaru!" Han cried anxiously. Through the swirling dust, she could not see him at all.

"Oh, someone else is here?" Ryūkotsusei laughed sinisterly. "I'll kill you first for a little fun, woman."

Blue-white lightning gathered in Ryūkotsusei's wide-open dragon mouth, stray currents flashing with a blinding glare.

"Thunder Light Blast!"

Wrapped in light bright enough to sting the eyes, tremendous power hurtled toward the girl, who knelt on the summit, unable to keep her footing.

Amid the blinding radiance, Han struggled to extend her longbow and raise a barrier of spiritual power before her, forcibly canceling out Ryūkotsusei's attack.

But the aftershock of the Thunder Light Blast struck the peak. The mountaintop crumbled in an instant, and Han fell helplessly.

Suddenly, a silver-white, furry figure sprang from the dust-shrouded ground below. Sesshomaru pushed off with one foot, leaped into the air, and caught the girl falling from the mountain.

The girl gripped the edge of his sleeve tightly, unwilling to let go.

She had experienced Ryūkotsusei's overwhelming, seemingly invincible strength firsthand.

"Oh, there's a monster over here too?" Ryūkotsusei sniffed the air. "That's the scent of the Dog Clan."

"Boy, whose son are you?" Ryūkotsusei lowered his head to look at the dog demon holding the girl on the ground.

"The one who sealed you a hundred and fifty years ago," Sesshomaru replied coldly. His anger had been stirred without his realizing it.

What Ryūkotsusei had done to the girl filled the dog demon's heart with icy fury. Before he knew it, Demon Power was boiling around him, and his long silver-white hair stirred without a breeze.

"Oh?" Ryūkotsusei laughed maliciously. "Let's see what that monster's son can do."

"Hmph. You're nothing but a coward who stole the Dragon Race's bones and Demon Power." Sesshomaru snorted coldly and set the girl down. "Stand back, Han." "All right." Han quickly took several steps back, refusing to become a burden that would hamper him.

"Heh, since you're bold enough to say that, I'll play with you before you die." Ryūkotsusei reared up angrily.

The enormous Ryūkotsusei suddenly dived at Sesshomaru, his dragon mouth gaping wide. His hard jaws even plowed up a thick layer of earth.

Sesshomaru had already pushed off with his toes and leaped onto the nearby cliff. He kicked off it and sprang back onto Ryūkotsusei's spine.

He swept his claws through the air, and greenish venomous fumes instantly filled his palm.

"Poisonous Claws!" Sesshomaru drove his sharp claws fiercely toward Ryūkotsusei's body, only for them to bounce off his tough hide.

"Oh, is that all?" Ryūkotsusei said unhurriedly. "You're underestimating me!"

Ryūkotsusei suddenly moved with greater agility. A single roll forced Sesshomaru to leap off him and toward another peak.

"This is the end, boy!" Ryūkotsusei shouted as lightning gathered in his mouth again. "Thunder Light Blast!"

A violent ball of energy struck the peak where Sesshomaru had landed. Sesshomaru sprang away at once, but Ryūkotsusei fired another sphere after him. Throughout their lengthy exchange earlier, Ryūkotsusei had appeared to dismiss the dog demon, but in truth he had remained secretly on guard, not daring to be careless. Having only just awakened, his Demon Power had not yet begun circulating fully. Though his aura seemed to tower into the sky, the Demon Power he could actually use was limited. Now that some time had passed, he had rapidly recovered a great deal of Demon Power. Only then did he dare unleash Thunder Light Blast without restraint, relentlessly pursuing Sesshomaru with his attacks.

At last, the two reached a stalemate.

Ryūkotsusei could not kill the agile Sesshomaru, and Sesshomaru could not break through Ryūkotsusei's tough defenses.

If only I had Tessaiga, Sesshomaru thought. With Tessaiga, I could break through his defenses.

"Boy, where's your father?" Ryūkotsusei also seized the chance to rest, secretly circulating his Demon Power and gathering his aura in preparation for his next round of attacks.

"Hmph. I, Sesshomaru, am more than enough to deal with a monster who's been sealed for a hundred and fifty years." Naturally, Sesshomaru would not tell Ryūkotsusei that his father had died after their battle.

Sesshomaru suddenly leaped up, sending a Light Whip from the fingertips of his right hand toward the masklike face on Ryūkotsusei's forehead.

If all those dragon bones belong to the Dragon Race, then that face must belong to the monster's original body!

With that thought, Sesshomaru pushed off with his black boot and instantly leaped into the air before Ryūkotsusei's face, snapping his Light Whip down.

Unfortunately, Ryūkotsusei was no slower. Contracting and extending his body, he swiftly moved aside.

"Boy, you've angered me!" Ryūkotsusei roared in fury. That truly was his weak point. His original face was even more vulnerable than his wounded heart. "Thunder Light Burst!"

A blue-white sphere of energy, stronger still than Thunder Light Blast, shot from his mouth and blasted away half the cliff with a boom.

Caught in the shock wave of the Thunder Light Burst, Sesshomaru was hurled into the cliff. The attack was more powerful and covered a wider area, leaving him unable to dodge it completely.

"Bastard!" Sesshomaru's anger rose. The purple Demon Marks on his cheeks grew more vivid, his eyes became bloodshot, and his mouth split wider at the corners. He was on the verge of transforming into his demon-dog form.

"Heh, haven't you noticed?" Ryūkotsusei suddenly laughed sinisterly. "Your woman has been buried alive."

"What?" Sesshomaru turned. The girl's hiding place was covered in rubble, with no sign of life. The faint, distinctive scent of her blood drifted through the air.