Dark, threatening clouds covered the entire night sky. Strangely enough, they were not rain clouds; instead, they looked more like the backdrop of a stage play. They were large, heavy, frozen in place… clearly unnatural.
Even so, those riding beneath them did not seem concerned by the strange situation. They simply kept their horses at full speed, gradually approaching the enormous structure visible in the distance.
"This… is it coming from the clouds?"
Guiding his horse closer to the young priestess riding beside him, a young man with unusually dull golden hair and deep blue eyes whispered near her ear.
As he spoke, Asahiko extended a hand and caught something small falling from the clouds. The thing was almost invisible to the human eye—something like lint or dust—but it dissolved the moment it touched his skin… or perhaps it was absorbed by it.
"Miasma. What's falling from the clouds is crystallized miasma."
Kikyo also caught some of the substance in her pale hands. As it tried to slip beneath her skin, she released a small pulse of spiritual energy, easily stopping it and neutralizing the obviously malicious substance.
"Maybe a stupid question, but what exactly is miasma?"
"…Just ignore that comment. Miasma forms when a large number of negative emotions accumulate in the same place—stagnant, piled up again and again. An extremely powerful demon or yokai can also generate it around themselves… though it's usually easier for them to just kill humans with their own hands."
"That's strange. We didn't pass any villages or towns on the way here. Where would enough negative emotions come from to create clouds of miasma?"
Using illusions to ensure the nearby soldiers couldn't hear the conversation happening right in front of them—though he wasn't sure if it would work on the type of dead they might be dealing with—Asahiko controlled his horse skillfully with one hand while stroking his chin with the other.
His doubts were understandable. On the journey here, they had not seen a single trace of human civilization. Only barren land—dry and cracked—stretching endlessly in every direction.
"I said negative emotions. They don't necessarily have to be human."
"…Yokai?"
"Yes. You could even say they're more efficient than humans. After devouring human negative emotions, they become filled with them—and then all you have to do is extract them."
Kikyo finished the sentence coldly.
Translated plainly, it meant: cut them in half and pull everything out.
As she spoke, Kikyo began slowing her horse when she saw they were approaching the main gates.
The gates were massive and clearly fortified. Several towers rose along the walls, yet the place felt less like a castle and more like a heavily fortified mansion.
That feeling only grew stronger once the gates opened.
Inside was a wide courtyard, several interconnected halls, and a large central residence.
But all that wealth—worthy even of powerful feudal lords—felt empty. Oppressive. Like the mouth of a giant beast waiting for fools to step inside.
"We've arrived. Please follow me. Let my men take care of your horses while we move inside."
"Yes."
"Alright… here we go."
Following Kikyo—who was clearly in charge this time—Asahiko handed the reins of his horse to a nearby soldier and stepped behind her, shifting from companion to bodyguard.
Ignoring that small change that no one cared about, they walked behind the samurai into the main residence.
Inside, they encountered the first "person" of this place.
An elderly man with gray hair tied in a low knot stood before them. He wore a dark green yukata embroidered with white flowers, and beneath it one could see a fine black shirt.
"Welcome. I am the one managing this castle due to my lord's current condition, and I must say it is a pleasure to have both of you here."
"…The pleasure is ours."
"Oh? Of course it is. Now follow me. My lord is waiting."
Maintaining the strange smile he had worn since Kikyo and Asahiko arrived, the administrator began guiding them through dark corridors thick with miasma.
The deeper they went into the residence, the more miasma surrounded them, until the substance resembled a purple mist clinging to everything and everyone.
At that point, it became impossible to ignore.
Kikyo released a faint pink aura from her body to keep it at bay, while Asahiko seemed hardly affected at all.
"We've arrived. You may enter now. My lord is waiting inside."
"Thank you."
"…"
"Hahaha… sorry, that just slipped out."
Laughing awkwardly, Asahiko glanced around quickly as the hairs on the back of his neck slowly rose.
Something was strange here.
Even stranger than everything they had already seen.
Still, he ignored the feeling and opened the door for Kikyo.
Inside, nothing could be seen through the thick miasma—at least not with human eyes. For Kikyo and Asahiko, however, it posed no problem. The entire room was perfectly visible to them.
The chamber was divided in two, separated by a bamboo curtain. Behind it lay a dark figure reclining on the other side.
"Ah… I suppose introductions are unnecessary between you and me… No, perhaps they are unnecessary only for you, Kikyo."
"Heh. They are unnecessary. I assume you are Naraku. Though I prefer calling you Onigumo—a petty mountain bandit."
"How sharp-tongued. But that was long ago, Kikyo. As you said, now I am Naraku… a true demon of flesh and blood. Very different from your beloved Inuyasha."
As he spoke, the surrounding miasma thickened even more. The being now known as Naraku laughed hoarsely, proud of himself, filling the room with a dark atmosphere.
But such an atmosphere had no effect on Kikyo.
If anything, it only deepened her contempt.
Especially after hearing his claim of being a demon.
"You think you're a demon? Hahaha, don't make me laugh, Naraku. Look at you. Your body is crippled from the neck down. The unmistakable stench of dozens of different yokai… You're nothing but an amalgamation of yokai. At best, a half-demon if we're being generous."
"Kikyo… and judging by your companion, you must know what a real demon is. I never expected you'd end up like this. Perhaps I should have made what happened fifty years ago even more traumatic."
"I've already moved past it. Though it seems you haven't. Hahaha… I'm tired of this game. You can handle it now, Asahiko."
Ending her cold yet strangely unhinged laughter, Kikyo stepped behind Asahiko and whispered into his ear while keeping her brown eyes fixed beyond the curtain.
They were clearly using him just to annoy Naraku.
But Asahiko didn't care in the slightest.
He had finally been given permission to destroy this unpleasant place.
Without hesitation, he drew Clouded Fang and pointed it forward.
[What a filthy place to wake up to… almost reminds me of home.]
"You don't even have eyes, Souga. And if it's so filthy, help me destroy it already."
[Hahaha, of course. The thing behind that curtain looks delicious… so many yokai gathered in one place. A real banquet.]
Ignoring the conversation in his mind almost instantly, Asahiko filled Clouded Fang with energy and unleashed a crimson slash forward.
The attack cut through the room effortlessly—but when it reached the curtain, a barrier stopped it cold.
"Do you like it? A trick I learned from monks and priestesses long before the two of you."
"A simple trick."
"So it seems… What a shame. But it appears our meeting must end here. Don't worry—so I won't feel bad, I'll leave you a few friends as a gift."
Seeing Asahiko's attack slowly cracking the barrier, Naraku thickened the surrounding miasma until it formed something like a cocoon around him.
At the same time, he issued one final order to those waiting outside.
Immediately, countless hands, arms, and heads burst out from every direction—through the walls, beneath the floor, even from the ceiling.
Perhaps all the missing inhabitants of the castle had been here all along—embedded throughout the room as undead.
"I knew we shouldn't have come! My instincts are rarely wrong!"
"Do you regret it?"
"Nah. I'm already used to your exes trying to kill me… though I'll admit I thought it would only be Inuyasha. Hahaha, you really drive them all crazy."
"I do not. Especially not that disgusting thing."
"Sure. Whatever you say."
Mocking Kikyo one last time while watching the cocoon fade into the miasma, Asahiko raised Clouded Fang toward the human skeletons.
And with that—the battle began.