InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ In Death, Trust Me, as You Didn't in Life ❯ Come Into My Parlor... ( Chapter 65 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: kanna37 
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Hentai / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 04.04.2011 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.4K | Visits: 607 | Status: Work In Progress
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Hentai / Drama / Adventure / Action | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 04.04.2011 | Pages: 2 | Words: 3.4K | Visits: 607 | Status: Work In Progress
Chapter 65: Come Into My Parlor...
Three hours before dawn found Sugimi and his army awake and preparing for battle. While the other camp was still sleeping, he chose to be ready and waiting when they finally decided to make their move - and besides... they had to set up the opening moves of the fight.
With that in mind, he called for Inuyasha, Nyoko, Sango, and Miroku to be brought to him in the main command tent.
The moment they appeared, he spoke.
"Nyoko, you said that the spells on the land that you had performed are set and ready, correct?"
Nodding slowly, she peered at the demon lord in the dim light of the one small lamp that had been lit. "Ye-es," she said hesitantly, obviously wondering where he was going with his questioning.
"And all you have to do to start them is speak the keyword, ne?"
"Again, yes..." she trailed off as everyone stared at Sugimi.
"Good! Then this is what I want you four to be in charge of - the opening salvo of this little war we have going on." With a gleeful grin, he laid out their instructions. "I want you to take some of the half-demons and some of the humans and head towards his army's encampment right away. Once you arrive in the vicinity, wait for the point where they are just about ready to begin their own attack, and then strike quickly, here, and here-" he pointed to the map of the battlefield, and where Ungai's army lay, "-and take out as many confused warriors as possible in a one minute time frame. Then fall back, just a little... and allow them to come to you. In this way, you will lead their advance elements right into Nyoko's trap."
He held everyone's interested gaze for a moment, then finished. "Once the last of our people have crossed the danger zone, and as much of the enemy as possible has entered it, you, Nyoko, will set your spell, and then you all will melt back into your positions in the army. We will go from there."
They all thought about it for a few moments, then everyone nodded, seeing no problem with the plan - it would indeed upset Ungai's troops and cause mayhem and confusion within his ranks.
"Keh. Sounds good to me." He cast a stern glance at Nyoko, then. "You stay with me, got it?" His expression told her that this wasn't the time to argue, so she merely nodded, no trace of her usually comical nature present - she was all business this day.
"Let's all go, then. Grab your people, Sango - the slayers, and some of the dispossessed men from the other villages, and I'll grab some of our friendly neighborhood half-demons, and we'll meet at the head of the battlefield."
Within moments, the command tent was empty of life save for Sugimi, and he let out a tense breath. He'd wrestled with himself all night about this, not wanting to put his son in so much danger, but... he'd already faced more danger than this and survived it all, and he was an easy choice as leader of this effort for his experience in smaller battles such as this portion would be.
He also knew that it would take quite a bit to kill off his stubborn youngest son - after all, Naraku, and all his machinations, and even Sesshoumaru, had never been able to kill the boy - he was almost sure that an insane monk wouldn't stand a chance.
With an inward sigh, he stood, and began pulling on his own armor, mentally preparing himself for the madness that was soon to start. He looked with a bit of distaste at his plain great sword – he'd not had a chance to get one actually suited to him, and he was positive he was going to regret that.
He was pulled from his musings by a commotion outside the tent, and with a frown, he stepped outside – to be greeted by an old friend he'd not thought he'd see on this side of death again – Totosai.
He grinned widely as Momo set his old friend down before him. “Totosai, you old buzzard! It has been a long, long time, has it not?”
“Eh?” the bug-eyed old demon asked, sticking a finger in his ear and digging around. “Sorry – couldn't hear ya. So... up to your old tricks, starting fights again, my Lord?”
Sugimi laughed and stepped forward to pat the swordsmith hard on the back, startling a bit of flame from the old demon's mouth. “Oh, I didn't start this fight, but I aim to finish it,” he replied.
Totosai eyed his old friend dubiously for a moment, then asked, “And you think you're gonna do it with that piece of scrap metal?” He pointed at the sword dejectedly hanging at the daiyoukai's side.
The inu simply shrugged. “I didn't have the chance to come to you for a new sword, Totosai – and besides, once this mess is over, I'm going back to the other side.”
The swordsmith chortled knowingly. “Don't want to leave your pretty little hime alone over there, eh?” He shook his head at his friends' rueful expression. “Well, it's a good thing that meddling goddess of the sun was thinking ahead – she commissioned a new sword for you.” He reached over his back and dug around inside his big bag, finally pulling out a magnificent sword, and handed it to Sugimi. “Meet Tsurugi no Shinzui, the spirit sword. He is so named because he will accompany you back into the spirit world once your time here is done.”
Eyes softening with gratitude, because he well knew how much the loss of one of his creations hurt the old demon, he held out his hand for the sword, and took it, hefting it immediately, testing its weight and balance, getting used to the feel of it. Between one breath and the next, he flowed into a complicated set of kata, his form elegant and gracefully deadly as he danced with the sword.
Totosai could only watch, as did everyone nearby, spellbound, at the sight of the master of swordplay making it look so easy. The old man sighed sadly with the knowledge that his friend would not be staying after the battle – his death had truly been a great loss to the lands.
After a few minutes, Sugimi stepped back over to his friend, and bowed to him. “You have outdone yourself with this one, my old friend, and I am most honored that you have chosen me to take him into battle. I will not dishonor your work,” he finished with great respect.
Totosai waved a hand at him. “As if you could dishonor a sword. Anyway, seeing as this stupid monk wants to eliminate all demons, I think I'll stick around and help out as I can – you never know when a huge ass fire will come in handy, eh?” he cackled.
Sugimi cocked a mocking brow at that. “Indeed,” he murmured. “Tell me, have you seen Myouga?”
“Hmph.” With an absent scratch of his chin, he said, “Myouga, Myouga... oh, yes... the little bloodsucker. Actually, my Lord,” he said with a hasty bow, noting that his impersonation of a fool wasn't going over very well, “I believe he's with your youngest whelp. That's if he hasn't run away entirely, of course.”
“That's the kami's own truth,” muttered Sugimi. “Ah, well... it's not like he'd be much use in this particular situation – I highly doubt he could suck enough enemy blood to make much of a difference,” he chuckled.
Just as Totosai was set to answer, the first distant sounds of clashing weapons hit the ears of the youkai present, and Sugimi straightened grimly, snapping out orders to the various leaders of the different sections of the army.
It was time to get into place... the time for bloodshed had finally come.
-oOo-
Zetsumei stayed fairly close to the powerful silver Inu that was leading those opposing Ungai, knowing that sooner or later, the monk would engage him in battle. It wasn't easy to stay close, yet be unobtrusive, but he managed, determined that Ungai would pay for what he'd done to him.
As a deserter, he knew that death was the price. But it was always a clean death – not the hours of torture that the false monk had put him through. And for that, he was determined to take Ungai's soul, and swallow it whole, thus rendering the mad monk unable to ever be reborn – he would spend eternity trapped inside Zetsumei's own dark soul, tormented by the fact that he was now part of the very thing he'd so despised in life... youkai.
When the call to battle finally came as the eastern sky began to lighten, he managed to stay relatively close to the daiyoukai called Sugimi – though he did wonder about that; he was certain that the one Ungai had been so fixated on had been called Sesshoumaru. After a few moments, though, he shrugged; it mattered not to him which inu led them, only that he got his chance at Ungai as he'd sworn to himself to do.
All the youkai spirits within him agreed – Ungai's pathetic soul would feed them for many years to come.
-oOo-
Sugimi flared his aura, blood once more flowing and adrenaline exciting his body into battle-ready status. He felt more alive in that moment than he'd felt in over two hundred years, and he fiercely reveled in that feeling, letting his body heat and his poisons pump through his blood. He was daiyoukai... battle would always serve to excite and entice him.
He flicked a glance to his side – he'd felt Satori come in from wherever she'd been hiding, her wind youkai servant landing right behind her with her fan tapping nervously against her hand, and grinned almost ferally. As much as he despised his son's mother, he had to admit – she was a hell of a fighter to have at your back, and he had no qualms with her being there, as some might think he would.
While they truly disliked each other, still, they were youkai, banding against humans that were threatening their way of life, and she wouldn't endanger their victory by turning on him in the heat of battle. It would literally gain her nothing... and Satori was not one to do something that wouldn't benefit her in one way or another.
Lifting his head into the freshening breeze, he scented the air, and catching the smell of blood, he raced forward, moving swiftly through the grouped warriors towards the front line, determined to be one of the first to welcome the enemy troops.
-oOo-
Inuyasha knelt, every sense he possessed focused on the camp just ahead of them – the enemy camp. They had already spilled blood, his companions and he, silently taking the lives of those posted to guard the camp from harm. It had all been too easy, and now his blood pounded fiercely through his body, preparing him for the fighting to come.
He glanced back meaningfully at those under his command, letting them know that it was almost time – their own sounds of battle would signal Sango's group to also attack. One minute in, then back out, moving back just enough to entice the opposing army to come after them. That same step would be repeated, attack and retreat, until they were exactly where Nyoko needed them to be...
And then, the mayhem would truly begin.
With one more glance behind him, he looked up at the sky, judging the hour, and then he fixed on the enemy camp, watching as the monks and samurai prepared for battle with narrowed, crimson washed eyes. Just as the sky began to lighten with the first faint fingers of dawn, he gave the signal...
With deadly efficiency, those under his command sprinted the small distance from the hillock they'd been hiding behind, and attacked, running right through the confused and milling troops in their path.
Inuyasha was at the forefront, Tessaiga gleaming as it swept in and out of the fray, and Inuyasha grinned as blood scented the air around him. He could hear the sounds of Sango and Miroku's group across the way, and shouting gleefully, he let his sword sing the song of death to those in his way. Cleanly swiping his blade through one samurai, he danced to the side as a monk tried to throw sutra at him, cleaving the shocked monk in two and watching as the sutra sizzled harmlessly against his fire rat.
He turned his head just slightly to address Nyoko, who was at his back with her poniard out and flashing. “Guess your little spell works, woman. And the looks on those monk's faces when they see how little effect they're having will be priceless,” he chortled as he crossed blades with another samurai warrior.
Just as he finished off that one, the timer in his mind went off, and he bellowed out, “Retreat!” flashing his sword down in one last attack, he called out the Tessaiga's signature move, and as the enemy forces fled in panic from the destruction of the Windscar, he grabbed Nyoko and swiftly leaped away, leading his group back to the next fallback point.
Sango and her group appeared within moments, blood flecked and panting slightly. “Hey, Inuyasha,” Miroku asked as they all got their breath back, “I thought Tessaiga would only work against beings with youki. How were you able to use it against humans and monks?”
A nasty grin crossed the half-demons face, then, and he snickered. “There's a little loophole in that. There just has to be youki present, not necessarily being produced by the enemy. With as many demons and half demons are present in this area, there's more than enough demon energy for me to be able to use Tessaiga on anyone I damn well please.”
Miroku's eyes rose into his bangs at that, and he nodded. “I bet that makes you happy,” he chuckled.
The hanyou nodded, then snapped out his next set of orders. “Keh! Spread out along this line, the fools took the bait and are forming up to come this way. First blood went to us – let's make sure second blood does, too!”
Within half an hours time, they had Ungai's frontlines right where they wanted them – just beginning to enter the soon to be dead zone, as Nyoko had been calling it. One more scuffle, and then the true mayhem would begin.
With a stirring yell, Inuyasha led the last charge of the opening moves, striking deep and hard at the enemy that had dared to mar the fair lands that they'd passed through.
-oOo-
Standing tall before the army that his eldest son had formed, Sugimi watched with pride as his youngest son tore great rents in the opposing forces with his small group, and as the sky lightened further with the sun now beginning to break over the horizon, he, and the entire army he stood at the head of, could see what they were facing.
It was a daunting sight.
As much of the army as Nyoko had managed to tear away from Ungai to begin with, what was left was still formidable, especially as so many samurai had joined the insane monk. There would be victory this day, the daiyoukai was sure – but there would be much blood shed here, as well, and much of it would come from his own army.
Still... his eyes flashed crimson at the scent of so much enemy blood that his son and friends had already managed to spill, and it was only the beginning.
Strategically placed just across the safe line from the dead zone, Sugimi and Satori, along with Totosai, Kagura, Kanna, and diverse others, watched, eager for battle, as the Windscar once more swept across a portion of the enemy, disintegrating the mortal flesh as well as it did youkai, and then welcomed their advance elements back into their folds as they ran back across the dead zone, to mingle back into their places within the army.
Silence spilled across the swath of empty ground that separated the two opposing forces as they eyed each other, Ungai's forces wondering what the other army waited for. Finally, impatient, and pissed that they'd already been bloodied, one of the clan Generals gave the order to attack...
Nyoko, with a fine eye, watched and waited, letting as many as could fit into the dead zone cross, and then lifted her voice above the sounds of attacking troops, and yelled out the final keyword for the spells she'd set into the land.
Sugimi and his army watched, speechless, at the pandemonium that spread through the troops inside the dead zone as the ground literally liquified beneath them, swallowing whole elements of Ungai's forces between one second and the next. Piercing screams, shouts, frightened whinnies from the horses, and curses from the samurai made for a deafening cacophony, and Sugimi and the rest of his army added to the horrific din those dying made as they yelled insults and battlecries.
All too soon, though, silence once again reigned across the field as those who'd been in the forefront of Ungai's army disappeared from view, sucked into the very lands they'd tortured, never to be seen again. Shocked, and suddenly very uncertain, what remained of Ungai's forces stared at the army waiting for them, almost afraid to step onto the ground that had just swallowed more than three thousand samurai, horses, and monks.
The two armies eyed each other across the field turned graveyard, until Sugimi stepped forward.
Drawing his new sword, he challenged the forces arrayed against him. “Come, then, and do battle with me, or forfeit your lives to cowardice!” he shouted, and with that, Ungai's army broke, running forward to engage the enemy upon the unholy ground they stood upon, unable to withstand the implied insult to their honor.
Up in the sky, the new dawn began to darken as the sky turned black, the throaty caws of the carrion eaters only adding to the deafening din on the ground.
There would be much death this day to sustain those that fed on it.
-oOo-
A/N: And we have finally reached the battle! I know most of you are probably going, “It's about damn time!” But hey... it's going to cover three chapters after this one, so it's going to be a long drawn out one. I've already got the next chapters planned out, so hopefully, they will go smoothly, but no guarantees – battle scenes are hard to write, and this is the most involved one I've ever written.
Ja!
Amber
Converting /tmp/php1rm2nW to /dev/stdout
Three hours before dawn found Sugimi and his army awake and preparing for battle. While the other camp was still sleeping, he chose to be ready and waiting when they finally decided to make their move - and besides... they had to set up the opening moves of the fight.
With that in mind, he called for Inuyasha, Nyoko, Sango, and Miroku to be brought to him in the main command tent.
The moment they appeared, he spoke.
"Nyoko, you said that the spells on the land that you had performed are set and ready, correct?"
Nodding slowly, she peered at the demon lord in the dim light of the one small lamp that had been lit. "Ye-es," she said hesitantly, obviously wondering where he was going with his questioning.
"And all you have to do to start them is speak the keyword, ne?"
"Again, yes..." she trailed off as everyone stared at Sugimi.
"Good! Then this is what I want you four to be in charge of - the opening salvo of this little war we have going on." With a gleeful grin, he laid out their instructions. "I want you to take some of the half-demons and some of the humans and head towards his army's encampment right away. Once you arrive in the vicinity, wait for the point where they are just about ready to begin their own attack, and then strike quickly, here, and here-" he pointed to the map of the battlefield, and where Ungai's army lay, "-and take out as many confused warriors as possible in a one minute time frame. Then fall back, just a little... and allow them to come to you. In this way, you will lead their advance elements right into Nyoko's trap."
He held everyone's interested gaze for a moment, then finished. "Once the last of our people have crossed the danger zone, and as much of the enemy as possible has entered it, you, Nyoko, will set your spell, and then you all will melt back into your positions in the army. We will go from there."
They all thought about it for a few moments, then everyone nodded, seeing no problem with the plan - it would indeed upset Ungai's troops and cause mayhem and confusion within his ranks.
"Keh. Sounds good to me." He cast a stern glance at Nyoko, then. "You stay with me, got it?" His expression told her that this wasn't the time to argue, so she merely nodded, no trace of her usually comical nature present - she was all business this day.
"Let's all go, then. Grab your people, Sango - the slayers, and some of the dispossessed men from the other villages, and I'll grab some of our friendly neighborhood half-demons, and we'll meet at the head of the battlefield."
Within moments, the command tent was empty of life save for Sugimi, and he let out a tense breath. He'd wrestled with himself all night about this, not wanting to put his son in so much danger, but... he'd already faced more danger than this and survived it all, and he was an easy choice as leader of this effort for his experience in smaller battles such as this portion would be.
He also knew that it would take quite a bit to kill off his stubborn youngest son - after all, Naraku, and all his machinations, and even Sesshoumaru, had never been able to kill the boy - he was almost sure that an insane monk wouldn't stand a chance.
With an inward sigh, he stood, and began pulling on his own armor, mentally preparing himself for the madness that was soon to start. He looked with a bit of distaste at his plain great sword – he'd not had a chance to get one actually suited to him, and he was positive he was going to regret that.
He was pulled from his musings by a commotion outside the tent, and with a frown, he stepped outside – to be greeted by an old friend he'd not thought he'd see on this side of death again – Totosai.
He grinned widely as Momo set his old friend down before him. “Totosai, you old buzzard! It has been a long, long time, has it not?”
“Eh?” the bug-eyed old demon asked, sticking a finger in his ear and digging around. “Sorry – couldn't hear ya. So... up to your old tricks, starting fights again, my Lord?”
Sugimi laughed and stepped forward to pat the swordsmith hard on the back, startling a bit of flame from the old demon's mouth. “Oh, I didn't start this fight, but I aim to finish it,” he replied.
Totosai eyed his old friend dubiously for a moment, then asked, “And you think you're gonna do it with that piece of scrap metal?” He pointed at the sword dejectedly hanging at the daiyoukai's side.
The inu simply shrugged. “I didn't have the chance to come to you for a new sword, Totosai – and besides, once this mess is over, I'm going back to the other side.”
The swordsmith chortled knowingly. “Don't want to leave your pretty little hime alone over there, eh?” He shook his head at his friends' rueful expression. “Well, it's a good thing that meddling goddess of the sun was thinking ahead – she commissioned a new sword for you.” He reached over his back and dug around inside his big bag, finally pulling out a magnificent sword, and handed it to Sugimi. “Meet Tsurugi no Shinzui, the spirit sword. He is so named because he will accompany you back into the spirit world once your time here is done.”
Eyes softening with gratitude, because he well knew how much the loss of one of his creations hurt the old demon, he held out his hand for the sword, and took it, hefting it immediately, testing its weight and balance, getting used to the feel of it. Between one breath and the next, he flowed into a complicated set of kata, his form elegant and gracefully deadly as he danced with the sword.
Totosai could only watch, as did everyone nearby, spellbound, at the sight of the master of swordplay making it look so easy. The old man sighed sadly with the knowledge that his friend would not be staying after the battle – his death had truly been a great loss to the lands.
After a few minutes, Sugimi stepped back over to his friend, and bowed to him. “You have outdone yourself with this one, my old friend, and I am most honored that you have chosen me to take him into battle. I will not dishonor your work,” he finished with great respect.
Totosai waved a hand at him. “As if you could dishonor a sword. Anyway, seeing as this stupid monk wants to eliminate all demons, I think I'll stick around and help out as I can – you never know when a huge ass fire will come in handy, eh?” he cackled.
Sugimi cocked a mocking brow at that. “Indeed,” he murmured. “Tell me, have you seen Myouga?”
“Hmph.” With an absent scratch of his chin, he said, “Myouga, Myouga... oh, yes... the little bloodsucker. Actually, my Lord,” he said with a hasty bow, noting that his impersonation of a fool wasn't going over very well, “I believe he's with your youngest whelp. That's if he hasn't run away entirely, of course.”
“That's the kami's own truth,” muttered Sugimi. “Ah, well... it's not like he'd be much use in this particular situation – I highly doubt he could suck enough enemy blood to make much of a difference,” he chuckled.
Just as Totosai was set to answer, the first distant sounds of clashing weapons hit the ears of the youkai present, and Sugimi straightened grimly, snapping out orders to the various leaders of the different sections of the army.
It was time to get into place... the time for bloodshed had finally come.
-oOo-
Zetsumei stayed fairly close to the powerful silver Inu that was leading those opposing Ungai, knowing that sooner or later, the monk would engage him in battle. It wasn't easy to stay close, yet be unobtrusive, but he managed, determined that Ungai would pay for what he'd done to him.
As a deserter, he knew that death was the price. But it was always a clean death – not the hours of torture that the false monk had put him through. And for that, he was determined to take Ungai's soul, and swallow it whole, thus rendering the mad monk unable to ever be reborn – he would spend eternity trapped inside Zetsumei's own dark soul, tormented by the fact that he was now part of the very thing he'd so despised in life... youkai.
When the call to battle finally came as the eastern sky began to lighten, he managed to stay relatively close to the daiyoukai called Sugimi – though he did wonder about that; he was certain that the one Ungai had been so fixated on had been called Sesshoumaru. After a few moments, though, he shrugged; it mattered not to him which inu led them, only that he got his chance at Ungai as he'd sworn to himself to do.
All the youkai spirits within him agreed – Ungai's pathetic soul would feed them for many years to come.
-oOo-
Sugimi flared his aura, blood once more flowing and adrenaline exciting his body into battle-ready status. He felt more alive in that moment than he'd felt in over two hundred years, and he fiercely reveled in that feeling, letting his body heat and his poisons pump through his blood. He was daiyoukai... battle would always serve to excite and entice him.
He flicked a glance to his side – he'd felt Satori come in from wherever she'd been hiding, her wind youkai servant landing right behind her with her fan tapping nervously against her hand, and grinned almost ferally. As much as he despised his son's mother, he had to admit – she was a hell of a fighter to have at your back, and he had no qualms with her being there, as some might think he would.
While they truly disliked each other, still, they were youkai, banding against humans that were threatening their way of life, and she wouldn't endanger their victory by turning on him in the heat of battle. It would literally gain her nothing... and Satori was not one to do something that wouldn't benefit her in one way or another.
Lifting his head into the freshening breeze, he scented the air, and catching the smell of blood, he raced forward, moving swiftly through the grouped warriors towards the front line, determined to be one of the first to welcome the enemy troops.
-oOo-
Inuyasha knelt, every sense he possessed focused on the camp just ahead of them – the enemy camp. They had already spilled blood, his companions and he, silently taking the lives of those posted to guard the camp from harm. It had all been too easy, and now his blood pounded fiercely through his body, preparing him for the fighting to come.
He glanced back meaningfully at those under his command, letting them know that it was almost time – their own sounds of battle would signal Sango's group to also attack. One minute in, then back out, moving back just enough to entice the opposing army to come after them. That same step would be repeated, attack and retreat, until they were exactly where Nyoko needed them to be...
And then, the mayhem would truly begin.
With one more glance behind him, he looked up at the sky, judging the hour, and then he fixed on the enemy camp, watching as the monks and samurai prepared for battle with narrowed, crimson washed eyes. Just as the sky began to lighten with the first faint fingers of dawn, he gave the signal...
With deadly efficiency, those under his command sprinted the small distance from the hillock they'd been hiding behind, and attacked, running right through the confused and milling troops in their path.
Inuyasha was at the forefront, Tessaiga gleaming as it swept in and out of the fray, and Inuyasha grinned as blood scented the air around him. He could hear the sounds of Sango and Miroku's group across the way, and shouting gleefully, he let his sword sing the song of death to those in his way. Cleanly swiping his blade through one samurai, he danced to the side as a monk tried to throw sutra at him, cleaving the shocked monk in two and watching as the sutra sizzled harmlessly against his fire rat.
He turned his head just slightly to address Nyoko, who was at his back with her poniard out and flashing. “Guess your little spell works, woman. And the looks on those monk's faces when they see how little effect they're having will be priceless,” he chortled as he crossed blades with another samurai warrior.
Just as he finished off that one, the timer in his mind went off, and he bellowed out, “Retreat!” flashing his sword down in one last attack, he called out the Tessaiga's signature move, and as the enemy forces fled in panic from the destruction of the Windscar, he grabbed Nyoko and swiftly leaped away, leading his group back to the next fallback point.
Sango and her group appeared within moments, blood flecked and panting slightly. “Hey, Inuyasha,” Miroku asked as they all got their breath back, “I thought Tessaiga would only work against beings with youki. How were you able to use it against humans and monks?”
A nasty grin crossed the half-demons face, then, and he snickered. “There's a little loophole in that. There just has to be youki present, not necessarily being produced by the enemy. With as many demons and half demons are present in this area, there's more than enough demon energy for me to be able to use Tessaiga on anyone I damn well please.”
Miroku's eyes rose into his bangs at that, and he nodded. “I bet that makes you happy,” he chuckled.
The hanyou nodded, then snapped out his next set of orders. “Keh! Spread out along this line, the fools took the bait and are forming up to come this way. First blood went to us – let's make sure second blood does, too!”
Within half an hours time, they had Ungai's frontlines right where they wanted them – just beginning to enter the soon to be dead zone, as Nyoko had been calling it. One more scuffle, and then the true mayhem would begin.
With a stirring yell, Inuyasha led the last charge of the opening moves, striking deep and hard at the enemy that had dared to mar the fair lands that they'd passed through.
-oOo-
Standing tall before the army that his eldest son had formed, Sugimi watched with pride as his youngest son tore great rents in the opposing forces with his small group, and as the sky lightened further with the sun now beginning to break over the horizon, he, and the entire army he stood at the head of, could see what they were facing.
It was a daunting sight.
As much of the army as Nyoko had managed to tear away from Ungai to begin with, what was left was still formidable, especially as so many samurai had joined the insane monk. There would be victory this day, the daiyoukai was sure – but there would be much blood shed here, as well, and much of it would come from his own army.
Still... his eyes flashed crimson at the scent of so much enemy blood that his son and friends had already managed to spill, and it was only the beginning.
Strategically placed just across the safe line from the dead zone, Sugimi and Satori, along with Totosai, Kagura, Kanna, and diverse others, watched, eager for battle, as the Windscar once more swept across a portion of the enemy, disintegrating the mortal flesh as well as it did youkai, and then welcomed their advance elements back into their folds as they ran back across the dead zone, to mingle back into their places within the army.
Silence spilled across the swath of empty ground that separated the two opposing forces as they eyed each other, Ungai's forces wondering what the other army waited for. Finally, impatient, and pissed that they'd already been bloodied, one of the clan Generals gave the order to attack...
Nyoko, with a fine eye, watched and waited, letting as many as could fit into the dead zone cross, and then lifted her voice above the sounds of attacking troops, and yelled out the final keyword for the spells she'd set into the land.
Sugimi and his army watched, speechless, at the pandemonium that spread through the troops inside the dead zone as the ground literally liquified beneath them, swallowing whole elements of Ungai's forces between one second and the next. Piercing screams, shouts, frightened whinnies from the horses, and curses from the samurai made for a deafening cacophony, and Sugimi and the rest of his army added to the horrific din those dying made as they yelled insults and battlecries.
All too soon, though, silence once again reigned across the field as those who'd been in the forefront of Ungai's army disappeared from view, sucked into the very lands they'd tortured, never to be seen again. Shocked, and suddenly very uncertain, what remained of Ungai's forces stared at the army waiting for them, almost afraid to step onto the ground that had just swallowed more than three thousand samurai, horses, and monks.
The two armies eyed each other across the field turned graveyard, until Sugimi stepped forward.
Drawing his new sword, he challenged the forces arrayed against him. “Come, then, and do battle with me, or forfeit your lives to cowardice!” he shouted, and with that, Ungai's army broke, running forward to engage the enemy upon the unholy ground they stood upon, unable to withstand the implied insult to their honor.
Up in the sky, the new dawn began to darken as the sky turned black, the throaty caws of the carrion eaters only adding to the deafening din on the ground.
There would be much death this day to sustain those that fed on it.
-oOo-
A/N: And we have finally reached the battle! I know most of you are probably going, “It's about damn time!” But hey... it's going to cover three chapters after this one, so it's going to be a long drawn out one. I've already got the next chapters planned out, so hopefully, they will go smoothly, but no guarantees – battle scenes are hard to write, and this is the most involved one I've ever written.
Ja!
Amber
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