Blackened stumps surrounded a lake that hadn’t been there a few hours ago. “The explosion was so big it forced all the water out of the ground and covered everything,” Misao observed.

Megumi stared at the water, saying nothing. After her initial scream she hadn’t spoken, hadn’t even cried.

Kaoru watched her, worried. Megumi…

Misao leaped onto one of the rocks that broke the lake’s surface. She jumped from stone to stone like a little girl playing a game.

“Wait, Misao!” Kaoru called. “It’s dangerous to rush in like that!”

“Daijoubu!” the princess grinned – but her foot slipped and she landed with a splash in the lake. Fortunately, the water was shallow.

“I warned her,” Kaoru sighed.

Misao turned red. Then her eyes grew wide and she shot out of the water, grabbing at her backside. “Ow!” she yelled. “Hot hot hot HOT!”

“Huh?” Yahiko blinked.

Kaoru stuck her finger into the lake. “Amazing! It even heated up the water underground!”

“Why don’t we rest over there, Kamiya-san?” asked Aoshi, pointing to a tumbledown house. It was vacant and bare, but it was shelter, and there was even plenty of firewood.

By unspoken agreement, they left the bed platform to Megumi. She wrapped herself in a blanket and turned her face to the wall, pretending to sleep.

“Poor Megumi,” Misao murmured. “Losing her home and family all in one night.”

“Mou, I never thought he’d do that,” Kaoru grumbled. “This is no time to be wondering if he’s the real Shishio or a fake!”

“But if Shishio’s got that much power, what can we do?” Yahiko asked.

“That’s it!” Kaoru jumped to her feet.

“Oro?”

“There’s a reason Shishio hasn’t come after us!”

Aoshi looked startled. “You’re saying he isn’t quite complete yet?”

“You mean he can get even more powerful?” Misao gasped.

“I’m saying we still have a chance against him!” retorted Kaoru. “Think positively for a change!”

“Umm… can I ask you something, Kaoru?” Yahiko sounded uncharacteristically thoughtful, and rubbed at his head in anticipation of her bokken.

“Okay. Just as long as it’s not too stupid.”

“How come you don’t use the same thing you used on him before? It worked, right?”

“The Giga Slave?” asked Aoshi.

Kaoru stared. The Giga Slave. The Dark Lord of all Dark Lords who controls all of Time and Darkness… the Lord of Nightmares. Drawing power from him allows you to use the most powerful of all techniques, a power beyond even that of the Dragon Slave… but… Aloud she said “It’s a risky gamble. It worked last time, but one mistake in the technique would suck the life force out of all of us. It could kill us all.”

Misao gasped in horror.

“I don’t see any other options,” Aoshi countered. “It may be a long shot, but we have to try it.”

“You mustn’t!” Megumi sat up.

“Megumi…”

“You mustn’t use the Giga Slave – not ever again, if possible!” the priestess repeated.

“Megumi-dono…” Kenshin murmured.

“Why not?” asked Kaoru.

“Because it’s a terrible technique that can return all of creation to nothingness!”

Everyone stared.

“If you execute it wrong, it won’t just kill us. It could consume the entire world in a void of nothingness!”

“Consume the whole world?” Kaoru protested. “Come on! You’re exaggerating, right?” But inside she suspected that Megumi was not exaggerating at all. She had felt, in her own body, the enormous power of the Giga Slave, and she was very much afraid it was strong enough to do exactly that.

“You mean you didn’t know?” demanded a horrified Misao.

“I had no choice!” Kaoru retorted. “I was sort of out of options at the time!”

“Well, have you got any other options now?” Yahiko demanded.

Kaoru thought for a moment. “Shishio’s legacy.”

“So,” Aoshi agreed. “We might very well find a secret among his collected possessions.”

“As in what our enemy’s weak point might be!” added Kaoru. “It’s definitely worth checking out!”

Aoshi stood up. “All right, now that’s settled, we’d better hurry. Let’s go to Shishio’s lab! Megumi-san, we’ll need you to guide us.”

The grief-stricken priestess turned empty eyes toward him.

“With the city destroyed, we can’t tell left from right,” Aoshi explained. “There’s no one else we can ask.”

“But I…” Megumi protested.

“Are you just going to let them get away with killing your family?” the chimaera demanded, his tone as hard as his skin. “Will you let the whole world end up like Sairaag?”

“Aoshi!” Kaoru protested.

Megumi stared at the floor for a long moment. “Wood,” she mumbled. “I’d better get more wood for the fire.” She fled out the door.

Megumi-dono!”

“Megumi!”

Aoshi sat back down, his marble face impassive as always. Kaoru tried to whack him over the head, but all she managed to do was hurt her own hand.

Outside, Megumi knelt by the pile of firewood. She reached for another stick, blindly, but only succeeded in dropping several she already had. They didn’t really need the wood anyway, it was just an excuse to cry, away from the others.

“Megumi-dono.”

She turned. Kenshin stood behind her. “Ken-san…” she whispered, and then dropped the firewood and flung herself into his arms, weeping.

“You’ve had a very hard time, Megumi-dono,” Kenshin murmured. He made no move to hold her. “But it will be all right, that it will.”

“Ken-san,” Megumi sniffled. “Oh no, I dropped the firewood!”

“Don’t worry, sessha will get it.”

And the stars shone down in utter peace…

Kaoru hadn’t been able to resist taking advantage of the hot lake. “Ahh, this feels so good!” she sighed. “Hey Misao, why don’t you quit sulking and come in?”

Misao sniffed. “You couldn’t care less, could you, Kaoru-san?”

Kaoru shook her fist at the younger girl. “What’s with you?” she demanded. “It’s not my fault that this happened! And we might not get a chance to relax like this again!”

Misao was silent for a while, thinking this over. “Himura-san’s taking a while, isn’t he?” she asked.

“Oh, leave him alone.” Kaoru waved a dismissive hand. “He has something else to do now.”

“I know, but things seem so complicated.”

Kaoru would have been less casual if she knew she was being watched. Atop a hill on the other side of the lake, a fish walked on human-like legs. “Rum-poyump-pum-poyum,” the fish-man hummed to himself. “Zuncha, zuncha, zuncha, zuncha.” He levitated, swimming through the air as effortlessly as his legless cousins moved through water.

“Ken-san…?”

“Oro? Megumi-dono?”

“Are you all right?”

“Of course!” Kenshin had a stack of firewood nearly as big as he was.

Megumi laid her hand on his arm. “Ken-san, will getting Shishio’s legacy really help to destroy such a horrible enemy?”

Kenshin turned serious eyes toward her. “Sessha does not want to destroy anyone,” he said. “But this man, whoever he is, cannot be allowed to go on destroying the lives of innocent people. And we cannot stand around waiting for him to kill us.” He smiled. “Besides, Kaoru-dono would never let us talk her out of it.”

“What is Kaoru like, Ken-san?” Megumi asked.

Kenshin gazed at the stars. “She’s… she’s nothing like you, Megumi-dono. She’s violent, loud, rude… she’ll never be able to settle down. No, Kaoru-dono isn’t anything like you. And she’s nothing like…”

Megumi withdrew her hand and looked away.

“Oro?”

“Ken-san,” she murmured without looking at him. “Promise me you’ll win. That you won’t get killed.”

“Don’t worry about that, Megumi-dono. Sessha has no reason to die yet, that I do not!”

Megumi blushed and poked her fingers together. “If… if you come back in one piece, I’ll…”

“You’ll make one of your wonderful dinners for me?” asked the rurouni.

And in a half-ruined mansion, located in the part of Sairaag that was still standing…

“Foolish girls!” Yumi fumed. “Planning to steal Shishio-sama’s legacy, are you? Well, we won’t let them!”

“Ba-bum-bum-bum,” sang the fish-man behind her, and pulled on a lever. Fluid drained from a tank, revealing an amorphous thing with a slimy green body and too many glaring yellow eyeballs.

“Shishio-sama’s legacy is mine,” Yumi went on. She crossed the room to where Shishio sat motionless on his restorative throne, knelt before him, and laid her head in his lap. “My life is tied to yours, Shishio-sama. I, Yumi Komagata, swear that I will retrieve your legacy. Rest, Shishio-sama, and grow strong for the day that is coming. Rahaminu!” she called to the fish-man. “I leave them in your hands!”

“Choot choot,” the fish-man chanted. Behind him, several misshapen chimaerae waited for the signal to attack.

Kaoru jerked the knot of her hakama ties and picked up her bokken. “All right!” she announced. “We’re after Shishio’s legacy!”

The Old City appeared to be a city of the dead. The companions raced between empty stone buildings that looked for all the world like huge tombs, on crumbling pavement where the very weeds seemed dispirited.

“To the left, Kaoru-chan!” Megumi directed.

This is the city where the Swordsman of Light slew the demon Zanaffar, Kaoru thought as she ran. If we get through here to Sairaag’s northernmost edge we’ll find Shishio’s laboratory!

Something gleamed briefly in the sky behind Kaoru. A dark shape zoomed over her head, whipping her hair and nearly tearing off the blue ribbon that bound it, before smashing into an archway ahead of her.

“What was that?” she demanded.

In the dusty rubble, a dark shape blocked her path. Manlike, it stood in an arrogant pose, but its body was…

“Aaaagh!” Kaoru shrieked, pointing.

“Tchung!” sang Rahaminu.

“I’m going to be sick,” Kaoru moaned.

“Woo-hoo, lookit those sexy legs!” Yahiko jeered.

“Are you serious?!” Kaoru smashed him over the head with her bokken.

Yahiko rubbed his head. “What did I say?” he wondered.

“Wa-hoo-wa-hoo!” chanted the fish-man, and jumped over their heads. He whizzed past too quickly to see, and smashed into another derelict building.

Kaoru sweatdropped. “Did… did you just see that?”

Misao shook her head.

“I think he’s even faster’n Kenshin,” Yahiko marveled.

“Split up!” Aoshi snapped. They scattered in different directions. Misao ran into a wooden wall and tumbled in a graceless heap next to Aoshi. “He’s something else!” the chimaera muttered.

Behind Misao, the wall began to crack. A burst of fire blasted it inward, revealing shapes out of a glutton’s nightmare. In the middle was a yellow monster with a fishlike head grafted onto a lizard’s body. Stunted green limbs and a scarlet crest completed the disgusting picture. Behind it was a beast-man like a weasel, and a bulky shape in the wrappings of a corpse.

“Aoshi-sama!” Misao yelped, and ducked behind her companion.

Aoshi unsheathed his kodachi, his eyes gleaming as bright as his blades.

Kaoru raced through the silent, deserted streets. “I don’t believe this!” she muttered to herself. Her foot caught in a hole and she sprawled on her face. “Why do the stupid fish monsters always chase after ME??!” She stood up and drew her bokken, just as Rahaminu blurred into another attack.

You who crosses between sky and earth,
Who eternally...

Agh, not enough time! The fish dove at her, disrupting her concentration. Her bokken’s energy went out with a fizzle. “I hate this!” shemoaned.

Kenshin and Megumi found themselves in the dark, moss-grown forest that surrounded the Old City.

“Oh!” Megumi tripped over a root and went sprawling.

“Daijoubu de gozaru ka, Megumi-dono?”

“I’m fine, Ken-san.”

Kenshin looked around. “This is…”

“The Miasma Forest,” Megumi identified.

Kenshin tugged on his ponytail. “Sessha thinks we’re lost de gozaru yo.”

“No, I’d say you’re found.” Sanosuke Sagara leaned against a tree, chewing on a fishbone, grinning.

BLAM BLAZER!

Aoshi blew the head off the orange fish-lizard. A beast-man with the fanged head of a war-dog and a ruff of bony spikes charged at him next.

DAMU BRAS!

Misao’s energy vortex caught it squarely in the face. Two more monsters attacked, and she finished them off with swift kempo moves. “There’s no end to them!” she wailed.

Behind her, the orange fish-head opened its eyes and launched itself into the air, hissing.

“Misao!

FLARE ARROW!

Aoshi caught it and blasted it apart just before it clamped its vicious jaws on the girl’s head. He looked around at the remaining monsters. “I’m going to finish this in one shot!” he announced. “Get out of here, Misao!”

FIREBALL!

The edge of the blast caught Misao as she jumped out the window. She rolled to a stop and looked up, to see Aoshi standing in midair, surrounded by a protective bubble of force. She also saw Kaoru, and a dark shape zipping past her.

“Oh, she’s still at it,” Misao sighed.

“Oh, I’m so sick of this!” Kaoru moaned. “Huh?” Aoshi’s force-bubble touched the ground beside her and winked out.

“Are you going to play with it all day?” Aoshi asked. “This is no time to hang around.”

“Easy for you to say!” Kaoru flared. “Why don’t you do something, Aoshi!”

“Very well, then,” he replied. “On the next pass.”

The fish-man zoomed in for another attack.

“Get down!” Aoshi ordered, and shoved Kaoru’s face into the paving stones.

“Aren’t we supposed to do this together?” Kaoru protested, her voice muffled.

Aoshi stood up, using none of his shamanic techniques, but simply holding up his razor-sharp twin kodachi. The fish-man was moving too fast to swerve or stop. With a little gasp of surprise, he smashed into another building – all three pieces of him.

“What an idiot!” Kaoru laughed. “That was easier than I expected!”

In the forest, Kenshin and Sanosuke continued their battle. A blow from the zanbatou slammed Kenshin into a tree. Sano took another swing at the rurouni and sliced through the trunk. He followed up with a punch that snapped the trunk in two. The upper part of the tree toppled slowly toward Megumi.

“Megumi-dono!” Kenshin sprang toward the priestess and carried her to safety.

Sano took advantage of Kenshin’s distraction to land another blow that sent the sakabatou spinning out of his hand. “Now it ends!”

“NO!” Megumi sprang in front of Kenshin, her arms outspread.

Sano hastily pulled his attack. He veered off to one side, fell over a tree root, and sprawled on his face in the mud.

Slowly, he picked himself up. “Che!” he spat, wiping mud from his mouth. “This is your fault, woman, for jumpin’ in front of me!” Too close to use his zanbatou, he tried a kicking attack at Kenshin. Without using his blade, the rurouni countered with a twist that dumped the tall bounty hunter on his backside.

“Damn you, Kenshin!” Sano muttered. “How come you didn’t finish it!?”

“You could have struck Megumi-dono down, but you did not,” Kenshin replied. “Why does a man like you serve Yumi and Shishio anyway?”

“Never mind about that!” Sano yelled. “You want to know, I’ll answer you next time we meet! And you’d better forget about bein’ a nice guy and fight me serious!” He ran off and was swallowed by the dark forest.

“Megumi-dono, that was a foolish thing to do, that it was,” Kenshin reproved. “You should not be so reckless or people will worry de gozaru yo.”

“How far did that baka run?” Kaoru demanded, stalking through the forest.

“Oi!” Yahiko yelled. “Kenshin!”

“Himura-san! Megumi-san!” Misao called. Then suddenly she stopped, her eyes bugging out.

“Huh?” Kaoru asked. “What’s the matter, Misao?”

“No, Kaoru-san!” Misao cried, jumping in front of her and waving her arms. “Don’t look!” She fell forward just as Kaoru tried to duck under her arms, so Kaoru’s face ended up pressed into her bosom.

“What’s the big idea?” mumbled Kaoru.

Kenshin and Megumi were standing very close, with every appearance of intimacy – though what Megumi was actually doing was healing a scrape on Kenshin’s arm.

“Hey, I can’t breathe!” Kaoru protested. She hoisted Misao over her head. “It’s bad enough you’ve got a better figure than me, but you don’t have to shove it in my face! What’s your problem, Misao?!” She slammed the younger girl to the ground.

“Oro?” Kenshin looked up and noticed that he and Megumi weren’t alone. “Kaoru-dono?”

Kaoru also spotted the rurouni. “Oh, there you are, Kenshin!” She advanced toward him, bokken raised. “What’s the big idea making me worry!?”

Megumi hid her mouth behind her hand. “Oh ho ho ho ho,” she laughed softly. Fox ears peeped through her hair.

“Why did I even try?” Misao moaned. “Oh, I don’t get it!”

“It must be very hard for you,” Aoshi murmured, giving Misao a hand up. It might have been sarcasm – but then sarcasm was lost on Misao.

“Aoshi! Misao! Quit stalling and come on!” Kaoru waved at them.

“No matter what you say, they do make a good pair,” Aoshi observed.

Yumi still rested her head in Shishio’s lap as he rested in regenerative trance, watching Kaoru and her friends running through the forest. They stood outside a crumbling stone building standing by itself. “No doubt about it,” Kaoru whispered. “That’s Shishio’s laboratory!” Carefully, so as not to wake Yumi, he rose. It was time.

Yumi woke to find her head pillowed on hard stone and the throne empty. “Shishio-sama?” she murmured. The red-robed priest stood at the other end of the chamber, his back to her, surrounded by an aura of power the hue of his robes. And unseen by Yumi, he smiled.

FLARE ARROW!

Kaoru blasted a hole in the building’s metal door.

The door to the laboratory is open. Do demons or serpents lie beyond it? Or perhaps Yumi and the Red Priest? You’ll have to wait for the next chapter to find out!