SQUELCH!
"[Eliminate]!"
THUD!!
Shaking his head violently to throw her off, Moryomaru clutched his pierced skull in fury.
It was nothing—just a single stab! It couldn't possibly cause any harm!
A mere wound couldn't kill him!
So he thought—yet his field of vision was shrinking...
"Ugh!"
"The blade is poisoned!"
Consciousness was slipping away. Only at the moment of death did Moryomaru realize what it was.
The thing his body had been instinctively resisting...
It was a poison that could bring death.
WHOOSH!
Drip...
Rising and flicking the blade clean, Akame cast off the filthy blood onto the roadside as she looked at Moryomaru's corpse.
Against an opponent with an immortal body, Murasame's poison was still effective.
As long as they didn't sever the affected part, the cursed poison would kill the enemy within a very short time.
"What a shame..."
Wiping the blade, Akame felt some regret at the enemy's toughness.
If that so-called Oni-Dragon Armor could have covered his entire body, she might truly have been helpless.
Its normal hardness already made it impossible for her to breach—only by releasing her final Noble Phantasm could she have possibly cut through.
But the cost of that would be too great...
Using it prematurely would only be wasteful for Akame.
The more souls died by Murasame's blade, the stronger she would ultimately become.
"Truly keen insight. You figured out that quickly that Moryomaru couldn't defend his whole body?"
When Sesshomaru and the others came over, Kagura asked her.
The battle just now had been quite impressive. Whether it was hiding in the forest or baiting Moryomaru into kicking up dust, every step had been guided by this girl.
That elusive presence and concealed aura were also key to her success.
With vision obscured and presence undetectable, Moryomaru had no way to defend.
Or rather, at that moment Moryomaru had only one option—to cover his entire body with scales.
Retreating into a shell might be shameful, but it works.
Had he done that, no matter how much Akame slashed, it would have been meaningless.
"I simply felt that if he could cover his whole body, he wouldn't have left any flesh exposed."
Wiping the dust from her face, Akame replied softly.
"True..."
Thinking back to when they first saw Moryomaru—if such an iron defense truly existed, he would have armored himself completely.
Not choosing to do so meant the coverage was limited...
...
"How is this possible?"
"He died again?!"
Muzan's expression twisted somewhat. After sensing Moryomaru's death, he truly couldn't sit still.
'The blade is poisoned!'
"He went after Sesshomaru despite my warning?"
Able to perceive Moryomaru's final words before death, Muzan furrowed his brow.
Poisoned blade?
He'd never heard of Sesshomaru using a poisoned sword...
"If it wasn't Sesshomaru, then it must be that Servant..."
He wasn't foolish—Muzan knew that the little girl beside Sesshomaru was a Master.
"What kind of poison could kill Moryomaru..."
Pondering this, Muzan grew curious.
With Moryomaru's armament, he should have been rock-solid under normal circumstances.
Most youkai shouldn't have been able to match him.
Even if Servants were special, he'd encountered them before.
Lancer had needed to use his Noble Phantasm just to pierce a hole in Meioju's shell.
And the enhanced Oni-Dragon Armor was superior to that, even possessing the ability to absorb youkai power.
Whether against youkai or Servants, it theoretically held significant advantage...
"Kinka! Ginka!"
"What are your orders, Muzan-sama?"
"Have the others continue as planned. Then send nearby Demon Youkai to find out what killed Moryomaru."
"Yes!"
Summoning Demon Youkai from the shadows, Muzan gave his orders.
When those conjoined bodies vanished, Muzan walked into the room behind him.
CLANG!
Scorching heat permeated the space. Muzan approached Toshu, who was continuously forging something.
"How's the progress?"
"Muzan-sama, please wait a bit longer. What I'm preparing for you is somewhat tricky—right now it only has form, but it's still incomplete."
Hearing this response, Muzan was quite pleased with this swordsmith who had willingly become a demon.
"What else do you need?"
"Hmm, the flesh and blood of the Kinka-Ginka brothers and dragonkin scales have been infused. Meioju's shell, Hosenki's skin, and branches of the Life-Dissolving Tree have been mixed in..."
Counting off various useful but miscellaneous youkai materials, Toshu was excited.
"Unfortunately, Moryomaru's plan to capture Shinigami-oni and the Medicine Elder failed."
"The simplest solution would be to find the optimal supplement."
"Something like a fragment of the Shikon no Tama..."
"With that, everything would fall into place perfectly."
Hearing this, Muzan fell silent.
If he remembered correctly, most of Those Shikon no Tama fragments had fallen into Naraku's hands.
The few remaining pieces were all with those enemies.
Contact Naraku and ask for a fragment?
That was impossible.
If possible, Muzan never wanted to have dealings with Naraku again for the rest of his existence.
"?"
"Oh my, pardon the intrusion..."
But sensing that uninvited presence, Muzan's expression turned quite displeased.
"So this is your forge? Quite impressive. Creating something like this without a word..."
Byakuya walked in through the doorway as if he owned the place, then offered praise.
"Don't make such a terrifying face. I'm only here to deliver something on Naraku's orders."
'What an unpleasant fellow to deal with...'
Waving his hand and sensing that undisguised killing intent, Byakuya didn't dare joke around and spoke plainly.
Tossing out a fragment he held, Muzan caught it and froze.
That shard filled with dark radiance was unmistakably a fragment of the Shikon no Tama.
"Well, delivery complete—I should go. Feel like you'll kill someone if I stay any longer."
With no intention of lingering, Byakuya shrugged and slipped away.
"Muzan-sama, should we relocate?"
"Forget it. That one's apparently been watching me all along."
This feeling was quite unpleasant, but unfortunately, Muzan couldn't escape this situation for now.
"But Naraku sending you the fragment you need most right now—that's a good thing."
Toshu stood and looked at the dark-glowing shard with delight.
"Could this be a trap?"
This was Muzan's first contact with a Shikon no Tama fragment. Harboring such doubts, he spoke up.
He couldn't believe Naraku would conveniently give away something so "precious."
"We can only check first if there's any of Naraku's youkai power lurking within the fragment. If not, there should be no problem."
"Is that so? Then let's have a look."
"I'll investigate immediately."