"So, Kagura is planning to stay with Sesshomaru?"
"A sound judgment. If she's there, Naraku will be wary of Sesshomaru and won't act rashly."
"Yeah, Sesshomaru looks way more reliable than Inuyasha."
"Shippo! You little...!!"
"Eek!!"
That familiar chase played out again. Kagome breathed a sigh of relief.
At least this time they'd truly saved Kagura. Everything they'd done wasn't in vain.
"Koga-kun and Lancer-kun, thank you for your help."
But all of this was only possible because of Koga and his Servant.
"It's nothing, just a small favor."
"Hey, you're making it sound way too light! Do you have any idea what I went through?!"
Compared to Koga's dismissive attitude, Cu Chulainn was quite displeased.
"Pfft. But it's really great having him around. Otherwise, there'd be no way to coordinate with Sesshomaru to save Kagura."
With a slight smile, Kagome was in a genuinely good mood.
"Miss, I've been wanting to ask since before—you're not from this era, are you?"
Cu Chulainn dug at his ear, looking at Kagome's strange school uniform as he spoke.
What girl from this era would dress like that?
"That's right. I'm from the modern era, five hundred years in the future."
"Five hundred years? That's quite far."
Kagome's innocent answer surprised Cu Chulainn.
For humans, five hundred years was quite a large time gap.
"As expected, this war is really filled with a strange atmosphere. But being able to meet all sorts of bizarre individuals isn't bad."
Flashing his teeth, Cu Chulainn then sighed with a chuckle.
"'This time'... Don't tell me you've participated more than once?"
Hearing this, Rikuo immediately caught the key point and asked.
"Hm? This Dragon Ball War is definitely the first. Before, I participated in the Holy Grail War ritual... it's a bit different from this."
"Holy Grail War?"
"What, you were chosen as a Master and you don't even know about this?"
As they exchanged information slowly, Cu Chulainn realized these Masters weren't from the so-called magus system.
"Mm, explaining it all sounds troublesome, but you just need to understand one thing. The Dragon Ball War just swapped out the item being contested. Heroes and great figures who yearn for it will answer the Masters' summons. Famous heroes or great figures from history are included. You should understand from your own experience."
Hearing Cu Chulainn's explanation, Inuyasha thought of that old man who should have died long ago.
Speaking of which, the Great Dog Demon was indeed a famous great youkai. It was only natural he would be summoned.
"Rikuo seems to be from the future too. So that means he's also a famous youkai?"
Shippo tilted his head, looking at Rikuo curiously.
"A person from the future? You're all pretty casual about this. You don't call Servants by their Class but by their actual names."
"Is there a problem with that?"
Looking at Cu Chulainn's exasperated expression, Kagome was puzzled.
"Here's the thing—generally, those who become Heroic Spirits are famous people or deceased celebrities. So once someone knows your True Name, if they can find out about your past experiences and cause of death, they might discover your weapons, techniques, and weaknesses. Therefore, for Heroic Spirits, names must absolutely never be revealed."
This explanation was novel to everyone.
"So Lancer, where are you a hero from? You don't look like someone from this country."
"Give me a break, Master. If I reveal everything, how am I supposed to fight these guys later? Just having my Noble Phantasm's abilities remembered is troublesome enough. In contrast, I don't know anything about this guy..."
Without any intention of revealing his name, Cu Chulainn looked at Rikuo and spoke frankly. Right now, he was indeed working alongside his Master.
But he was still a Servant who came to compete for the Dragon Balls. He had his own thoughts.
Cu Chulainn just wanted to find a good opponent and have a satisfying fight—not get worn down by immortal beings.
"Lancer, is it? My Class is Rider. My True Name is Nura Rikuo. I'm the Third Head of the Nura Clan, commander of the youkai. As for my Noble Phantasm—it's the Hyakki I command."
But the next moment, Cu Chulainn saw Rikuo undergo a transformation, his expression showing some surprise.
"So generous with revealing your hand. You're quite straightforward, aren't you."
"You seem so interested. How about we settle things sometime?"
"Oh? I can't pretend I didn't hear that."
Under everyone's gaze, the two suddenly made their challenge.
"Wait, don't—"
"Hold on—"
"Don't stop us right now."
Kagome and the others wanted to intervene, but were cut off by the two speaking in unison.
"We are Servants who answered the summons. We also have wishes we want fulfilled. Being so, as enemies, we should naturally defeat the other. This has nothing to do with whether we hold Dragon Balls. It's about severing the other's ambitions!"
Rikuo looked at Cu Chulainn and spoke slowly.
"You really know how to talk, but I like that reasoning! Nura Rikuo... Show me what it means to be the Lord of Pandemonium!"
His fighting spirit stirred, Cu Chulainn rolled his neck in response.
"But let's wait until you've recovered. Otherwise, defeating you while you're disadvantaged would be meaningless."
"Heh, fair enough. If you win, forget just telling you my True Name—I'll help you all out from then on."
Just like that, they set a promise to battle. Both were quite forthright about it.
"Is this okay? Rikuo, if you two..."
Just returning, Kagome looked at him with some worry. If possible, she didn't want to see her own Servant and Koga's Servant have internal strife.
"Kagome, let them go. Unless they thoroughly defeat the other, this won't settle down."
Inuyasha spoke up appropriately. He understood what these two were thinking and planning.
Rather than dragging these issues out, it was better to resolve them early.
The previous alliance was only because Koga and Kagome were on good terms, which made it awkward for Cu Chulainn and Rikuo to openly disrupt the atmosphere.
After all, if the Masters didn't want to fight, these two Servants couldn't exactly start trouble on their own.
But now that they had the opportunity, they might as well settle it in one battle. That way, they'd establish a hierarchy and stop the squabbling.
"Rikuo, don't lose. Kagome's Dragon Ball is important."
Inuyasha then looked seriously at Rikuo, reminding him. Later they might still face his old man and Naraku—they couldn't afford to lose that thing just yet.
"Yeah, you don't need to tell me. I don't plan on losing. Confronting Heroic Spirits is itself a kind of trial for me. If I lose here, I won't be able to defeat future enemies either."
Showing a mischievous smile, Rikuo tilted his head in response.
This time, challenging Cu Chulainn to battle wasn't a whim.
Though he didn't yet know the other's name... Rikuo was serious.
After all...
Who ever said... that the Hyakki Yako could only have youkai?