Kyōra

Kyōra (凶羅, Evil Mist) was a powerful demon and a member of the group known as the Four War Gods (Shitōshin). Many years ago, he and his comrades invaded the island of Hōraijima and devastated the population. Unable to defeat the Four War Gods, the island's priestess, Lady Kanade, sealed their power spheres inside a jeweled comb box. Unable to leave the island without their powers, the Four War Gods established themselves on Hōraijima.

The Four War Gods initiated a plan to regain their former power and escape from the island. However, they were opposed by many enemies, amongst them Lord Sesshōmaru. Having fought Sesshōmaru in the past, Kyōra was eager to face off with his nemesis once again. However, this would prove to be a fatal last encounter.

Invasion of Hōraijima
Many ages ago, the island of Hōraijima was a sanctuary for humans and demons alike. The two groups existed in harmony for many years and intermingled, giving rise to a sizeable population of half-demons. The existence of a half-demon community earned contempt from demons, so, to protect themselves, the people of Hōraijima created the powerful Cauldron of Resonance, which generated a time barrier that separated Hōraijima from the outside world. However, every 50 years the time barrier weakened, and the island reappeared, rendering it vulnerable to raids by demons. The Four War Gods were among the many demons which despised the people of Hōraijima, and one day decided to attack the island during its brief vulnerable period and annihilate its inhabitants.

The humans and demons of Hōraijima were no match for the Four War Gods, among whom was the demon Kyōra. The village became engulfed in flame and many villagers fell in battle. However, Kyōra and the other War Gods had neglected to kill the island priestess, Kanade. Lady Kanade was quite powerful, but not even she could defeat the combined power of the Four War Gods. In desperation, Lady Kanade was able to seal away the power spheres which granted the four demons their immense power inside a jeweled comb box. With this accomplished, Kanade leapt inside the Cauldron of Resonance, putting the box beyond the reach of any of the Four War Gods. With the island already conquered, Kyōra and the others established themselves temporarily on Hōraijima, until they could find a solution to their missing powers.

In time, the Four War Gods discovered that by throwing live half-demons into the Cauldron of Resonance, they could retrieve a portion of their powers trapped inside. In order to survive, the War Gods corrupted the Cauldron with their demonic energy and put their mark on each of the island's half-demons and established a powerful demonic barrier around the island. Anyone who carried the mark would be unable to pass outside the barrier. In this way, the Four War Gods were able to keep the half-demons enslaved, sacrificing them one by one whenever their powers needed rejuvenation. Nevertheless, this was a temporary solution at best, since the War Gods could never retrieve their full powers; furthermore, if they left the island, they would slowly fade away from a lack of demonic energy and die. In order to stay alive, the Four War Gods would have to remain on the island, where they could retain access to the Cauldron. Also, due to the slowing effect of the time barrier, the Four War Gods could minimize the amount of power they lost, meaning that they would only need to sacrifice a half-demon whenever the barrier itself weakened (e.g. every 50 years). But until they could retrieve the jeweled comb box from within the Cauldron, the Shitōshin would be trapped on the island forever.

Meeting Lord Sesshōmaru
Some 200 years before the Shitōshin's conflict with Inuyasha, Kyōra had a fateful encounter. When Hōraijima's barrier weakened, the Four War Gods would venture away from the island briefly, in order to wreak havoc before the barrier was restored. During one such excursion, Kyōra encountered a pair of demons, Kujaku and Saiten, who desired to defeat the Four War Gods, at the behest of the late Lord of the Western Lands, the Inu no Taishō. Kyōra was the first (and last) War God the duo encountered. Despite their efforts, Kyōra was easily able to defeat them and they were burned alive. Kyōra was indignant that the two demons were so weak, and yet acted so righteous. He consoled himself with the prospects of taking their weapons as his battle spoils. Kyōra would take Kujaku's fan for himself, while Saiten's Thunder Cannon would be given to his brother Jūra. No sooner had Kyōra defeated Kujaku and Saiten, however, than he was nearly struck by the light whip of Lord Sesshōmaru.

Kyōra was too quick and, taking up Kujaku's fan, dispersed Sesshōmaru's light whip. Kyōra assumed that this imposing figure was the "Sesshōmaru" that Saiten had mentioned in his dying breaths. Kyōra expressed eagerness in meeting the dog demon, as well as in fighting him. Nevertheless, Sesshōmaru treated Kyōra with cold disdain and conveyed his cynicism over Kyōra calling himself "a god". Kyōra assured Sesshōmaru that it was not unwarranted, and with that, leapt into battle. The skirmish lasted only a few seconds, as Sesshōmaru was able to put Kyōra out of action with one blow, causing him to burst into flames. Kyōra was by no means out of the picture, however, and his head floated out of the embers. He commended Sesshōmaru, espousing his surprise at the daiyōkai's strength, but rebuked him for underestimating the "power of a god". Sesshōmaru merely knocked Kyōra's head out of the way; nevertheless, this had only been a distraction. With Sesshōmaru's back turned, he was exposed to an attack by Kyōra's birds of fire, who administered the Mark of the Four War Gods. Kyōra marked Sesshōmaru knowing that he would come looking for revenge, ensuring that this battle would not be their last encounter.

Creating a Priestess
Around 150 years later, Sesshomaru's half-brother, Inuyasha and the priestess Kikyō investigated Hōraijima. By this time, all of the villagers had been killed or sacrificed except for six half-demon children. With their time (and sacrifices) running out, the Four War Gods decided it was time to try and get off the island. Seeing that Kikyō possessed strong spiritual power, they hatched a plan. While Inuyasha and Kikyō landed on the beach and spoke to the children, Kyōra sent in his birds of fire to attack. While they were distracted with this, however, Gōra wrapped his long tongue around Kikyō and began to suck her blood. Inuyasha stopped him, but the Shitōshin had obtained their primary objective. With that done, Ryūra marked Inuyasha, promising him that he would one day be their slave. Following this, the time barrier was restored and the island disappeared.

Behind the veil of the barrier, though, the Four War Gods went to work initiating their plan. Using the blood Gōra sucked from Kikyō, the Shitōshin used their magic to create an identical replica, with the intention of using it to free the jeweled comb box from the Cauldron of Resonance and releasing their power spheres. In the meantime, the replica Kikyō was left to grow in a ball of fluid in one of Hōraijima's forests.

Reunion with Sesshōmaru
The next time the barrier weakened, the Four War Gods experienced a minor incident of rebellion occured when one of the half-demon children left on the island tried to escape. Somehow the child, Ai, never received the Mark of the Four War Gods. Despite their plan to regain their power being close to completion, the Shitōshin would not allow any of their half-demon thralls to slip through their grasp. Ryūra therefore sent Gōra to bring Ai back. The matter was not as simple as it seemed, however, as Inuyasha happened to be in the area again, and defeated Gōra. Kyōra was unsure on how they should proceed from this failure, but Ryūra assured him that Inuyasha would not escape from the island again.

Eventually, Inuyasha began his approach towards the island, with new allies, apparently hoping to finish what he had left unfinished 50 years ago. But more importantly, Lord Sesshōmaru was also in the area and Kyōra was eager to fight him once again. Jūra and Ryūra were keen on tackling Inuyasha's group as a warm-up, so Kyōra took this opportunity to slip away and set up a rematch between him and Sesshōmaru.

To this end, Kyōra attacked a shrine on the other side of the bay from Hōraijima. A group of humans had gone their to seek sanctuary, knowing that the Four War Gods wreaked havoc whenever the island of Hōraijima appeared among the mists. Kyōra decided he would lure Sessōmaru to his location by creating as much havoc as possible. He appeared atop the village temple, frightening the gathered villagers and informing them that they would all soon be destroyed. Kyōra set the shrine's tree a blaze from a lightening strike created by his demonic aura. Laughing at their helplessness, Kyōra watched in amusement as the humans attempted in vain to escape their plight. Nevertheless, Kyōra attacked them with his birds of fire, setting them ablaze, as well as the shrine itself from his mere presense. As he looked on his work with satisfaction, one of his flaming birds were suddenly cut apart by a sword stike. Turning to see who it was, Kyōra discovered Lord Sesshōmaru emerging from the shadows of the nearby forest. Kyōra himself was delighted, and informed Lord Sesshōmaru that he had long awaited their rematch.

Taking little time for small talk, which Sesshōmaru would not likely have partaken in anyway, Kyōra wasted no time in getting their battle started. Having learned from their last encounter, he opened with a blast of his Crimson Demon Fan, engulfing Sesshōmaru in a vortex of heat and flame. Kyōra allowed himself to impressed with his own skill, but it was premature. To Kyōra's surprise, Sesshōmaru ripped apart the flaming cyclone with a blast of his demonic aura. He then charged at the War God with his sword, Tōkijin. Kyōra deftly dodged each of the thrusts and slashes, expanding his wings and taking flight. Kyōra congratulated Sesshōmaru on breaking through his attack so easily, remarking on how he "would expect nothing less from Lord Sesshōmaru." Gathering his birds of fire around him, Kyōra braced himself for the next phase. However, Sesshōmaru's next attack was more than he expected, as Sesshōmaru did not possess Tōkijin the first time they had faced off. Slicing several attacking birds, Sesshōmaru withdrew a short distance away, then turned towards Kyōra, unleashing his Dragon Strike move. Kyōra was taken aback, and tried to steer clear of it, but ended up being consumed by the blast. Nevertheless, Kyōra was left astonished once again by Sesshōmaru's skill. As his body began to break away into flame, Kyōra invited Lord Sesshōmaru to Hōraijima, where they could "cross swords again". Sesshōmaru was incredulous, but Kyōra assured his opponent that he would have no say in the matter, so long as he bore the Mark of the Four War Gods, and with that, Kyōra disintegrated, to later reform on Hōraijima, leaving behind a disgruntled and dissatisfied Sesshōmaru.