Mountain Ogre lived up to his name.
He was an evil demon as huge as a mountain.
Drawn by the trembling earth and thunderous rumbling,
Hojo Akitoshi, Inuyasha, and the others rushed out into the camp's open ground.
Then, together with the entire Hojo Army, they saw what had blotted out the moonlight overhead.
A gigantic demon was approaching, driven forward by Sesshomaru.
"A monster!"
"It's an enormous demon!"
It was different with Yura of the Hair. When the Hojo Army's samurai saw the petite, lovely woman,
her size and appearance meant that even though they knew she was a demoness who killed without blinking,
very few of them actually felt afraid.
The reason was simple: Yura of the Hair's appearance was far too deceptive.
Some men with unusual tastes even entertained a few indecent thoughts.
But when they saw Mountain Ogre, whose actual fighting strength fell far short of Yura of the Hair's...
Many of the Hojo Army's samurai trembled, nearly fleeing on the spot!
There was no helping it. That was the terror gigantic things inspired.
Besides, creatures in nature were accustomed to judging strength by size.
Humans were no different!
"Quiet, all of you! What are you panicking for?"
"Have you forgotten that you are the invincible samurai of Hojo?"
Seeing the chaos around him, Akechi Mitsuhide glanced at Hojo Akitoshi's impassive face beside him.
Akechi Mitsuhide readily took on the role of the bad guy.
His roar carried through almost the entire camp, successfully snapping the Hojo Army's samurai back to their senses.
Especially since many of them had noticed the expression on their Lord Hojo Akitoshi's face.
For the sake of their future prospects, and the truly unrivaled benefits offered by the Hojo Army!
They said money could make the devil turn a millstone. Naturally, Hojo Akitoshi could make his samurai do the same.
"What are you all doing? It's only a demon as big as a mountain, and you're already frightened?"
"Don't forget, we're the Hojo Army, preparing to conquer the land by force of arms! How can you disgrace yourselves like this?"
After adjusting their attitudes, quite a few samurai tried to repair whatever damage they might have done to Hojo Akitoshi's opinion of them.
They hastily shouted curses, even kicking and striking the soldiers beside them who still looked frightened.
Their tongue-rolling threats, practically a Japanese specialty, came out automatically.
Hojo Akitoshi ignored the surrounding soldiers. The cannons had already been wheeled out, and the Matchlock Ashigaru were forming ranks.
Besides, Sesshomaru had not come here to wipe out an entire household.
So Hojo Akitoshi carefully studied Mountain Ogre, who had stopped less than a hundred human paces from the camp.
Mountain Ogre could cover that distance in three strides.
It was also enough time for the camp's cannons to fire once and the Matchlock Ashigaru to unleash three volleys.
Considering Mountain Ogre's size!
His hand unconsciously eased his sword out a little as Hojo Akitoshi silently assessed the whole situation.
He did not consider a hollow show of strength like Mountain Ogre a genuine threat.
The real threat was!
"Inuyasha, you truly are a lowly half-demon. After all this time, you still love mingling with humans!"
Beneath the cold moonlight, the aloof young noble revealed himself.
He was handsome, with an alluring air of mystery, his waist-length silver hair complementing his pure white robes.
As though he were the center of the world, Sesshomaru addressed Inuyasha with disdainful reproach.
"You bastard!"
Hojo Akitoshi had already put Inuyasha through plenty of aggravation over the past few days. Now Sesshomaru, the person he hated most, was lecturing him too.
It was just like relatives at a human New Year's dinner, making snide remarks while finding endless ways to praise their own children.
Inuyasha wanted to tear Sesshomaru's mouth apart, just as he would those relatives'.
Preferably, he could also plant a foot on that face marked with the demonic patterns characteristic of a Great Demon.
But before Inuyasha could charge out and attempt to fulfill that wildly unrealistic fantasy,
the little demon who had been hiding in Sesshomaru's shadow, named Jaken and wearing a ridiculous courtier's cap,
stepped out, his entire figure comical and less than half a human's height.
Oh, and he held a chain in his hand. At its other end, following Jaken's steps,
a beautiful human girl of sixteen stumbled into view.
"Is that...?"
The four-armed flea Myōga started in surprise.
"A human woman?"
Kagome and the others were all taken aback.
Only Inuyasha suddenly opened his eyes wide, as though he had seen something impossible.
His whole body trembling, he instinctively edged forward, looking ready to approach Sesshomaru regardless of the danger.
"Hahaha! Do you see her, Inuyasha?"
"This is a gift Lord Sesshomaru brought back from the underworld especially for you!"
At that moment, Sesshomaru seemed to withdraw from the scene, leaving his servant Jaken to take center stage.
Standing atop Mountain Ogre without a word, Sesshomaru merely watched everyone's reactions with indifference.
Inuyasha and the others went without saying. Sesshomaru thought nothing of them; they did not deserve so much as an extra glance.
But...
That human man's expression and bearing!
His gaze settled on Hojo Akitoshi amid the crowd, and, strangely enough, Sesshomaru felt as though he were looking at another version of himself.
While Sesshomaru watched Hojo Akitoshi almost imperceptibly, Jaken had no idea what his master behind him was doing.
He simply continued performing according to his own script.
Sure enough, as Jaken's performance reached a pause, Inuyasha's expression changed dramatically. Although he did not immediately acknowledge the woman as his mother,
the hesitation on his face was plain to see.
"Is Izayoi Inuyasha's mother? She's so beautiful."
Women tended to be more emotional. After asking the flea Myōga, Kagome really did begin to believe it.
Hearing that, Inuyasha wavered even more. Jaken secretly rejoiced at the sight.
He pressed his advantage and yanked the chain, making Izayoi at the other end fall onto Mountain Ogre's arm.
She instinctively cried out in pain, then unconsciously uttered a tender call that pierced straight to the heart.
"Inuyasha!"
In that instant, how could Inuyasha possibly stay still?
He had yearned for her day and night.
His family, the mother he had missed since childhood.
She was right before his eyes!
Inuyasha was about to charge over heedlessly to rescue his mother and fight that scum Sesshomaru to the death!
"Wait."
At that critical moment, Hojo Akitoshi grabbed Inuyasha.
The Fire-Rat Robe creaked as it pulled taut.
That alone showed how fast Inuyasha had been charging forward!
"What are you doing?"
Inuyasha glared at him, his hands clenched into fists.
Ignoring the hotheaded Inuyasha, Hojo Akitoshi addressed the stunned Jaken.
"Since Lord Sesshomaru can already cross the boundary between life and death,"
"if he wants something, why not simply ask the Great Dog General in the underworld?"
Without waiting for Jaken's answer, Hojo Akitoshi turned back to question Inuyasha.
"How old was Princess Izayoi when she died, and what did she look like?"
"And how old are you now? Has Princess Izayoi never reincarnated in all that time?"
"Even if she hasn't reincarnated, what about the Great Dog General? Has he never thought of searching for Princess Izayoi in the underworld?"
"Well..."
That string of questions cooled Inuyasha's boiling brain.
Right, Hojo Akitoshi was right!
How old was he already?
"I'm over two hundred years old!"
Realization dawning, Inuyasha shouted as he stared at the young woman with his mother's face.
He was not completely certain, but he was sure she was almost certainly a fake!
Little did he know that his declaration of being over two hundred had left Kagome, standing beside him, visibly astonished.
But at that moment, no one except Kagome herself and Hojo Akitoshi paid any attention.
After all, their attention was focused on Jaken's darkened face.
Who knew how the purple-brown Jaken had managed to make his blackened expression so obvious to everyone?
Before you continue