The Twelve Trials Starting from Zero

"It's really you."

Naraku looked up at Su Qi, his face extremely grim. Then, his gaze shifted to Su Qi's hand, where he saw the demonic sword that gleamed with a cold light, its blade as if dyed with starlight, and his expression darkened even further.

"That form... it's Meido! So that's it. So you stole Sesshomaru's Meido Zangetsuha. No wonder you were so confident in coming to me. But if that's the case, you must have severed Sesshomaru's Tenseiga as well, right? Heh, how is this any different from the actions of a bandit like Onigumo?"

"The difference lies in..."

Before he could finish speaking, Su Qi had already pounced on Naraku.

"Everything I have done is just!"

With a furious roar, the blade slashed out, drawing a black crescent moon in the void.

With a flick of his wrist, Crescent Moon easily sliced ​​through the barrier surrounding Naraku's body, and with another flick of his wrist, cut through the armor of the Hades Beast on his body. He then slashed diagonally down from Naraku's left shoulder, severing his body in two.

Damn it!! Why?! Why did this guy suddenly become so strong? Why did he suddenly discover my plan? With the Meido Zangetsuha and his speed, if this continues, I, Naraku, might die here!

Naraku's pupils contracted sharply, his mind racing as he instantly realized he was in dire straits. But his will was as hard as iron, and he was not about to give up so easily.

It's not over yet! Even so, there's still a chance, there's still a weakness! I, Naraku, will not die here so easily!

With a thought, Naraku freed his severed lower body.

He was essentially a collection of hundreds of demons. Although he appeared to have only one body, the other demons were actually dormant inside. Now, with a single thought of liberation, the flesh of hundreds of demons surged out of his severed lower body like a fountain, overflowing and transforming into a tidal wave of blood and flesh that nearly submerged Su Qi, who was standing almost within reach.

At the same time, Naraku was pushed out and thrown out of the pit.

Now! The Shikon Jewel!

In the blink of an eye, he used the power of the Shikon Jewel to quickly restore his body. Large, disgusting chunks of flesh immediately squeezed out from the severed part of his upper body, supporting his body. Even the power of the Shikon Jewel could not restore the lower body composed of hundreds of demons in an instant, but disregarding the strength, it was no problem to quickly proliferate a body that could support movement.

"Naraku!?"

Just then, Kagura and Kikyo, who had heard the commotion and chased after them, finally arrived, just in time to meet Naraku, who had a human-like upper body, a fleshy mass of flesh on his lower body, and tentacles waving around, resembling an alien.

It's her!

Monsters continued to emerge from the pit behind, piling up on each other and rising higher, soon becoming a mountain of flesh composed of monster bodies.

While using his lower tentacles to pry and steady himself, Naraku glanced at Kagura in front of him and then fixed his gaze on Kikyo behind her.

Capture Kikyo! If I can capture Kikyo and make Kenshin Shishio hesitate to act, I'll still have a chance to escape!

With a thought, the deformed flesh of his lower body suddenly grew, changed, and lengthened explosively. Using the force of the flesh pushing against each other, Naraku's upper body was launched out, heading straight for Kikyo.

But before that, he faced Kagura, who was sandwiched in the middle.

What to do? To fight or not to fight? If I fight, and Naraku doesn't die this time, I'll be the one who dies! But if I don't fight…

Seeing Naraku approaching menacingly, Kagura froze, momentarily hesitant, but quickly made up her mind.

We'll die sooner or later if we don't fight, so let's gamble on this one!

Just as he was about to swing his folding fan, Naraku suddenly shouted, "Kagura!"

He stared intently at her, his eyes filled with murderous intent, while his only remaining right arm was raised forward, holding a beating heart in his palm—her heart.

Kagura paused for a moment, then smiled.

Naraku, did you really think you could calculate everything in people's hearts and have everything go as you wished?

With a death wish, he swung his folding fan, and dozens of wind blades whistled through the air, mercilessly bombarding Naraku.

Chapter 112 Public Execution

Kagura... how dare you betray me at a time like this!? Do you want to die? Then I'll grant your wish first!

Naraku was shocked and enraged. He clenched his right hand tightly, about to crush the heart in his hand.

But at that moment, a black crescent moon suddenly appeared, severing the arm and causing the severed hand and heart to fall together.

A heart set on swordsmanship!

Naraku's eyes sharpened, and he glanced to his side out of the corner of his eye, only to find that Su Qi, who should have been pinned to the bottom of the pit by hundreds of monsters, had somehow appeared beside him.

Am I going to be beheaded?

He was prepared to sacrifice another part of his body, but then he saw the latter leap down from his side, slash through several wind blades with his sword, and retrieve the heart.

Foolish guy, but this is my chance!

Naraku sneered inwardly, enduring the remaining wind blade attacks, slightly shifting his direction, and then stretched out his body to continue charging towards Kikyo, who was not far away.

However, the next second he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his body, and there was nothing behind him. He suddenly fell downwards.

How could this be!?

He was startled and turned around to look back, only to find that his deformed hindquarters had been severed at some point. Without the strength to support him, he could no longer move forward.

"Naraku, did you think I would give you a chance?"

After tossing the heart back to Kagura, Su Qi, holding his long sword, stood on the ground below, calmly waiting for Naraku to fall.

"You did this on purpose!?"

"Do you really think a pile of rotten flesh can stop me?"

"I haven't lost yet!"

Once again, Naraku released part of his body, and dozens or even hundreds of demons suddenly surged out from within him, raining down on Su Qi below.

"You've already lost when you meet me."

Su Qi's eyes narrowed, and he slashed at high speed. In an instant, more than a dozen huge black crescent moons overlapped and piled up above his head, swallowing all the falling monsters.

Compared to the later stages of the original story where he could unleash a complete, perfectly circular Meido Zangetsuha, his current Meido, uncultivated, can only produce crescent moons, lacking both quality and quantity to compensate. Given his current sword speed, as long as he can ignore Naraku's defenses, the completeness of the Meido is irrelevant.

He was able to unleash more than a dozen Netherworld Paths in an instant!

Seeing this, Naraku was shocked and realized that the other party had indeed deliberately let him go this time, but this time, he was undoubtedly in a desperate situation.

Qu Ling!! Are you still going to stand idly by? If this continues, you'll definitely fall into their hands!

He was still unwilling to accept defeat and yearned for the power of the Shikon Jewel.

"Hmph, that man's demon sword can cleave the path to the underworld and wound the soul... I don't want to go out and cause trouble for myself, so Naraku, you'd better pray for yourself."

Qu Ling's voice rang in his mind, then fell silent, without any further response.

What should we do next?

Naraku's mind went blank. For the first time in his life, he was trapped in a desperate situation where he had no way out and no solution.

"Naraku, you will die here today."

As the incredibly confident voice rang out, Su Qi's cold face appeared before him. He then swung his sword again, and more than a dozen black crescent moons, like the gaping maws of a monster, instantly devoured Naraku's body except for his head.

"But thank me, because you'll live a little longer."

A malicious smile curled at the corners of his lips. Su Qi grabbed Naraku's head and leaped down. Without pausing, he used the Underworld Path to clean up all the demons Naraku had released, lest they leave any hidden dangers. Finally, he carried Naraku's head toward Kikyo.

During this time, even with only his head remaining, Naraku continuously used the Shikon Jewel hidden in his skull to restore parts of his body, transforming into tentacles and feet, or releasing miasma, in an attempt to break free from Su Qi's control; however, he was already at his limit, and the latter was well prepared, easily neutralizing all of his tricks.

boom!

Naraku's head was thrown to the ground, pierced through the back of his skull with a knife, and nailed to the ground, killing him instantly.

"Why haven't you killed me yet?"

His hair was disheveled, his face covered in dirt and blood. His right cheek was on the ground, and his left cheek was facing the sky. He stared intently at Su Qi with his left eye, his eyes filled with coldness.

Even now, with only his head remaining and in a wretched state, Naraku showed no sign of submission or fear. He knew these people would not let him go, and he also possessed the most basic dignity of a villain.

In this world of the strong and the fittest, he never thought it was shameful for the weak to flee for their lives. On the contrary, he despised those fools who gave their lives for empty fame such as dignity and glory.

If he could survive, he wouldn't mind doing anything lowly to please his enemies, but if there was no hope of escape, why would he expose his shameful state and make a fool of himself? As for death, a villain like him was naturally already prepared for it.

"Naraku, it feels very pleasurable to manipulate people's hearts, doesn't it?"

Su Qi squatted down and gently patted Naraku's face. His eyes were even colder than Naraku's, and the smile on his lips was so black it seemed to overflow with ink.

What are you trying to say?

"I want to give you a chance to make your final confession. How about that? Aren't I being very kind?"

Naraku frowned, his gaze unconsciously sweeping over Kikyo standing behind Su Qi, and said coldly, "I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Oh, don't be shy."

Su Qi drew his sword, lifted Naraku's head, walked up to Kikyo, raised it so that Naraku could look at Kikyo at eye level, and smiled, "This is your last chance in your life. Hurry up and muster up your courage to speak. Don't keep Kikyo waiting."

Naraku's face instantly turned extremely ugly, and he fell silent.

"What is he doing?" Kikyo looked at him in confusion, not understanding what Su Qi was up to.

“Alright, since the protagonist is too shy, then I’ll have to speak for him.” Su Qi sighed and looked at Kikyo, his tone full of sarcasm: “Kikyo, do you know that Naraku has a dream, which is to win your heart.”

Kikyo: "!?"

Kagura: "!?"

The scene fell into a deathly silence, and Naraku could no longer remain calm, his coldness replaced by resentment and hatred.

"Ambition, ambition, heroism, sword, heart!!" His face twisted slightly, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth, filled with suppressed rage as he said, "Don't compare me, Naraku, to that piece of trash, Onigumo!!"

"Is that so? But the reason you always deliberately separate yourself and belittle Onigumo is because you subconsciously realize that you and he have the same feelings, so you take your anger out on him and blame everything on him, isn't that right?"

"Nonsense!" Suppressing his agitation, Naraku sneered, "You deliberately kept me here until now just to insult me ​​with these delusional ravings? Heh, your character is so despicable that even I, Naraku, find it disgusting!"

Su Qi chuckled softly, turned to look at Kikyo, and said maliciously, "Kikyo, if Naraku told you that he loves you and wants to be with you for life, how would you answer him?"

Kikyo, to make Naraku's death more dramatic, I hope you can cooperate with me later...

Remembering his previous instructions, Kikyo pondered for a moment and decided to cooperate. Although it was immoral, and she would never normally agree with it, what was this little humiliation compared to the pain Naraku had inflicted on her?

Then Kikyo's eyes flickered slightly, her face expressionless, and she said coldly, "Even if it's a joke, please don't make such a disgusting joke."

Instantly, Naraku's expression froze.

Chapter 113 Naraku's Final Death

What would a person feel when, in their most vulnerable and embarrassing moment, in front of their enemy and the person they secretly love, their most hidden emotions are brutally exposed, mocked and trampled upon by their enemy, and described as "disgusting" by the person they love?

boom!!