Li Xia's party.
It included Li Xia, Kagome, Izumo, Shiori, and Entei; there were also Sesshomaru, Jaken, Rin, and A-Mō.
Li Xia and Kagome rode Entei, protecting Little Blue. Rin and Shiori rode A-Mō, while Izumo and Jaken rode Kirara.
Sesshomaru could fly on his own.
Moryomaru approached Mount Penglai from the seabed.
The group was not moving particularly fast. They actually took about fifteen minutes to cover a dozen nautical miles.
It was as though they were deliberately alerting Ryūra, Kyora, and Jūra of the Four War Gods, reminding them to prepare their defenses.
The instant everyone landed on Mount Penglai, a dozen blue firebirds attacked alongside several cannonballs.
"Hmph."
Li Xia snorted.
He summoned the Poison Flood Dragon and the Mountain Demon.
The Poison Flood Dragon swiped a claw, and the sheer wind from it blasted apart the incoming cannonballs. The claw's cutting force continued toward a rocky wall by the island's shallows, immediately forcing Jūra, who stood atop it, to let out a string of strange cries.
The Mountain Demon landed heavily in the water, sending up an enormous wave.
The next moment, he opened his great maw and roared.
A powerful gust swept toward the dozen firebirds, carrying water mist with it and blowing them to ashes in the blink of an eye. The remaining force continued toward a rocky wall. Kyora's feet plowed two furrows more than a meter long through the ground before he finally steadied himself.
Their probing exchange made the difference in strength immediately clear.
"Interesting."
At the edge of the shallows, Ryūra emerged slowly from the brush with two large cleavers on his back.
His earlier ease had long since vanished, replaced by a grave expression.
For he could clearly sense that both the Mountain Demon's and the Poison Flood Dragon's