"Inuyasha..."
Li Xia knew this was their best-and last-chance to strike.
If they missed it, they would have to retreat.
So he flung several Evil-Repelling Talismans toward the Spiderhead Leader, or more precisely, toward Ogi.
Evil-Repelling Talismans would not harm ordinary humans, but they could suppress demons that emitted evil energy. He did not expect these few talismans to subdue the Spiderhead Leader outright. He only hoped that, once they landed on Ogi, they would instantly provide her with a kind of indirect protection.
All they needed to do was force the Spiderhead Leader to loosen his grip and instinctively release the girl.
Inuyasha, meanwhile, had pretty good combat instincts.
In the blink of an eye, he understood Li Xia's intent.
And so, as the Evil-Repelling Talismans turned into flying blades and landed precisely on the bewildered Ogi, he lunged into action! The Spiderhead Leader, who had taken the form of the old monk, staggered back two steps under the pressure of the magical energy released by the talismans. The instant he instinctively loosened the two spider legs restraining the girl, a blade flashed!
Shnk...
The blade swept past, sending blood spraying.
Yet neither Li Xia nor Inuyasha looked particularly pleased.
"We're in trouble!"
As it turned out, the Spiderhead Leader had also made his move the instant Inuyasha attacked.
Although the old spider did not know exactly how powerful Tessaiga was, he possessed formidable spider instincts.
Thus, when he saw Tessaiga coming down at him, he spewed copious amounts of spider silk like a water truck spraying water, hindering its edge to some extent! At the same time, he summoned the lowly Spiderhead minions lurking within the temple to his aid. Just as Inuyasha's Tessaiga cut through the silk and was about to cleave into his body, he sent several Spiderhead demons that had already arrived leaping out to serve as meat shields, blocking the space between them just in time.
And so, several pieces of cannon fodder took the blow for him, sharing the damage.
The Spiderhead himself merely lost two arms.
Of course, there was another reason the strike had failed to kill him outright: the sun had set, darkness was falling, and the demonic sword Tessaiga was "shrinking" along with it.
Tessaiga, which had looked so imposing earlier, was now growing smaller by the second.
"What's going on?"
Kagome and Shippo asked in confusion.
Li Xia reminded them:
"Did you forget Inuyasha is a half-demon? Tonight, his demon blood will fall dormant. His Demon Power is rapidly disappearing even as we speak!"
Tessaiga's increasingly diminished form was proof of that!
That was precisely why the Spiderhead Leader had managed to survive with only two spider legs severed.
The sharp claws on Inuyasha's fingertips had now vanished.
The silver hair on his head was losing its luster, and the small dog ears nestled within it were shrinking. Before long, he would become completely human.
"How could this happen?"
Kagome was starting to panic.
Ever since she had begun her journey to collect the Shikon Shards, Inuyasha had been her greatest source of support. Now, tonight, that support would temporarily disappear, while their group faced a dangerous demon commanding a host of cannon fodder.
And so, for the first time, Li Xia's importance became apparent:
"Mr. Xia, what should we do?"
As she looked at the lowly Spiderheads surrounding them in ring upon ring, and at the human swords and spears those demons brandished, their edges and tips gleaming coldly, Kagome felt a profound sense of guilt.
Her repeated persuasion had played no small part in bringing this about.
Mr. Xia had already pointed out the suspicious circumstances and warned her about Inuyasha's condition. Yet she had not taken him seriously enough, and they had fallen into the demons' trap, plunging everyone into this crisis.
None of them should have had to take this risk in the first place.
"Retreat! Let's get out of here first. We'll come back and kill them tomorrow in daylight!"
Li Xia suggested.
Naturally, Kagome and Shippo had no objections.
If they did not leave now, they might not get another chance.
With his demon blood rapidly falling dormant, Inuyasha stared at Tessaiga in his hand. It had already shrunk considerably and was about to turn into an ordinary rusty sword. His frustration was beyond words.
If tonight had not been the once-a-month New Moon Night, he could have killed the Spiderhead Leader in three to five moves with his own half-demon strength, even without relying on Tessaiga.
Unfortunately, there was no point dwelling on what-ifs.
"Go!"
Kagome cleared the way with a Demon-Breaking Arrow. This shot required no accuracy; she only needed to fire straight ahead and open a path.
Within the Demon-Breaking Arrow's area of effect, the Spiderhead demons either crumbled into dust or scrambled away in terror.
Seizing the opportunity, the group quickly broke out of the encirclement of lowly Spiderhead demons.
These Spiderhead demons, which used human corpses to move and fight, were only slightly stronger than ordinary humans. Li Xia and Inuyasha could deal with them quite easily.
"After them! Get the Shikon Shards!"
The Spiderhead Leader gave the order.
His minions immediately obeyed and pursued them relentlessly.
The group raced down the mountain path and was on the verge of escaping. But at that moment, Ogi, whom they had rescued, became a burden once again.
The reason was simple: the girl's foot injury had not fully healed.
Walking gently would have been fine, and she would have recovered in a day or two. But running for her life at a forced-march pace meant that one misstep brought the "classic" tumble!
Li Xia did not even know what to say when he saw it!
Ogi's fall forced everyone to stop and help her up, and the pursuing Spiderhead minions surrounded them once more.
That was not all. Hidden among the mass of spider-heads, their leader seized the opportunity when Inuyasha was the first to turn back to help Ogi. Without hesitation, he thrust out his neck more than ten meters, braved the magical energy released by an Evil-Repelling Talisman on Inuyasha, and opened his jaws to bite squarely into the shoulder of Inuyasha, who had already become a black-haired human!
His silver hair had turned black. Anyone who was not blind could see just how fragile Inuyasha was now.
The Spiderhead Leader had also chosen an exceptionally tricky moment and angle.
Even though Li Xia, who was clearing the way ahead, noticed the danger Inuyasha faced, he had no time to intervene.
"Inuyasha!"
Kagome cried out in alarm.
As the Spiderhead Leader rapidly injected poison into his body, Inuyasha's pupils dilated sharply. His eyes gradually grew vacant.
Zzzzt...
Several Evil-Repelling Talismans shot toward them. The instant they touched the Spiderhead Leader, intense azure arcs of electricity burst forth once more.
"Tch!"
The old spider recoiled in pain, instinctively releasing Inuyasha's shoulder from his jaws and retracting his head.
Although he had failed to finish him in one strike, he had achieved his goal of weakening the group before him:
"Heh heh heh! I injected a little poison into this brat. Not much-not enough to rapidly corrode his body from the inside out-but enough to leave him unable to move! Without him, all you have is a little spellcaster and a second-rate little priestess. How do you expect to fight me? Hand over the Shikon Shards, and behave!"
Ogi's fall was like the first domino tipping over.
Inuyasha kneeling on the ground, trembling all over, was the next step in that chain.
A lingering gloom gradually settled over everyone's hearts.
Yet just as the old spider thought he had them firmly in his grasp, Li Xia stepped forward and approached the half-kneeling Inuyasha:
"Inuyasha, could you lend me Tessaiga?"
The request came out of nowhere.
Everyone in the group turned to look at him.
"Tessaiga needs Demon Power to wield... to transform into that imposing demonic sword... You're only human..."
Inuyasha panted, struggling to speak through slurred words.
It was not that he was unwilling to lend it to him. Tessaiga in its rusty-sword form was simply useless in a human's hands.
Hearing that, Li Xia answered with action.
Under the puzzled gazes of Two-Dog, Kagome, and the others, he took out a gold-edged card. The outline of the Spirit Shrine framed its edges, while a somewhat menacing mask was depicted in its center! It was the Great Katsura Tree Mask!
With a flash of light, the Great Katsura Tree Mask emerged from the card, as though turning from an illusion into something solid.
Then it settled onto Li Xia's face:
"Like this, I possess Demon Power too, in a sense!"
Everyone stared, dumbfounded.
Disbelief was written all over their faces.
"Here..."
Inuyasha acted decisively, handing the rusty Tessaiga to his companion before him. He also wanted to find out whether this companion could wield his Tessaiga.
A full demon could not even touch Tessaiga without being harmed by its barrier.
Humans, on the other hand, lacked Demon Power and could not restore Tessaiga to its true form as a demonic sword.
Li Xia now possessed both magical and Demon Power! After taking Tessaiga, he focused on protecting his companions while channeling the Demon Power granted by the Great Katsura Tree Mask into the sword.
The next moment, a miracle occurred...
Tessaiga really transformed!
The rusty sword became a small chopping blade... glowing with golden light!
Compared with the true demonic sword Tessaiga, it was half as thick and half as large!
"It really works?"
His companions' eyes widened at the sight.
"Why is it so small?"
Holding the transformed Tessaiga, now a little chopping blade, Li Xia would not say he disliked it, but he felt an indescribable sense of oddness.
He turned toward the Spiderhead Leader and gave a cold, clicking chuckle.
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