A stench of blood so thick it seemed impossible to disperse had turned the core area of Kyoto Colony into a living hell.
The once-bustling streets of the ancient capital were now piled high with mutilated corpses, and the blood flowing among the ruined walls had even converged into dark red streams.
"Haa... haa..."
Heavy, rapid panting sounded exceptionally harsh in the dead silence of the ruins.
Maki Zenin knelt on one knee before a collapsed torii gate, not a single patch of intact skin left on her body.
Her signature short hair was plastered firmly against her cheek by sticky blood, and several visible chips had notched the originally razor-sharp edge of her Pseudo-Soul Splitter Katana.
It was utterly brutal.
Ever since entering Kyoto Colony, she had hardly been granted even a single second of respite.
After awakening her complete Heavenly Restriction and wiping out the disgusting Zenin family with her own hands, Maki had originally thought her strength would be enough to rampage through this Culling Game.
After all, it was a terrifying physical body that even Special Grade sorcerers feared, standing shoulder to shoulder with Toji Fushiguro of the past.
However, she had underestimated the number of monsters lurking in this ancient capital, and she had underestimated Kenjaku's sinister intentions.
Ever since the rules of the Culling Game had been forcibly modified a few minutes ago to allow free transfer between colonies, Kyoto Colony had become like an enormous magnet.
Countless incarnated sorcerers reeking of an ancient, decaying aura swarmed in like sharks scenting blood.
And as the most dazzling, most out-of-place presence within the colony—
A "monkey" without a shred of cursed energy, Maki naturally became the target upon which all the ancient sorcerers focused their fire.
Over the past few hours.
Relying on peak physical instinct and that cursed tool capable of severing souls, she had carved out a path of blood through the siege of these ancient powerhouses.
The dozens of corpses lying around her were the best proof.
Among them were no shortage of troublesome characters whose strength reached Grade 1 or even Semi-Special Grade.
Yet human strength had its limits after all.
Having no cursed energy meant she could not use Reverse Cursed Technique to heal her wounds.
Every swing of her blade and every dodge frantically drained her already overdrawn stamina.
"I can still... keep slashing..."
Gritting her teeth, Maki propped herself up with her blade against the ground and forced herself to stand.
Within those blood-stained eyes burned an unyielding stubbornness and madness.
She could not die here; she still had things she had to do, and she still had to see the man who had completely changed her fate.
Clack, clack, clack.
Just then, the crisp, rhythmic sound of wooden clogs drifted slowly from the thick mist of blood.
Accompanying these footsteps was a spine-chilling, razor-sharp murderous intent!
Every muscle in Maki's body instantly tightened to its limit, and the beast-like instincts of her Heavenly Restriction frantically sent fatal alarms to her brain.
Danger! Extreme danger!
The blood mist gradually thinned.
A woman clad in a gorgeous yet tattered twelve-layered kimono, wielding a slender tachi, appeared in Maki's sight like a specter.
Half of the woman's face was concealed behind an eerie hannya mask, and the exposed eye glittered with a bloodthirsty, morbid red glow.
"What a marvelous body..."
The woman's bright red lips curved upward slightly, letting out a coquettish laugh that made one's scalp tingle.
"Not a single shred of cursed energy, yet you survived in this slaughterhouse until now and even slaughtered so much trash."
"If I cut open this lively body of yours, the blood inside would be utterly delicious, wouldn't it?"
Maki stared fixedly at the woman before her, her hands gripping the hilt sweating slightly.
She could sense that this woman was completely different from the small fry she had faced before.
The tachi being casually dragged along the ground by the woman radiated an evil surge of cursed energy, thirsting to drink blood as if it were alive.
"Who are you?" Maki asked coldly.
"Four hundred years ago, people liked to call me Yotohime."
The woman extended her crimson tongue and licked the spine of the tachi.
"Names don't really matter anyway."
"What matters is that I've taken a fancy to your blood."
Buzz—!
Before her words even finished, Yotohime's figure vanished from the spot in an instant!
So fast!
Maki's pupils shrank abruptly. Relying on the extreme reflexes of Heavenly Restriction, she instinctively raised the Pseudo-Soul Splitter Katana in her hands to parry forward.
Clang!!!
A deafening clash of steel detonated.
The two long blades slammed together midair, erupting in blinding sparks!
An irresistible, terrifying force surged up along the blade. Maki grunted, her feet plowing two deep ruts into the ground as she was forced back over ten meters before barely steadying herself.
"Decent strength, little girl."
Pursuing her like a shadow, Yotohime closed in, the tachi in her hands turning into an impenetrable web of death pouring down frantically toward Maki.
"Still not enough, though!"
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Amidst scattering sparks, Maki was forced into a purely passive defense.
Her stamina was already severely drained, and with wounds large and small repeatedly tearing open under her violent movements, blood sprayed out like rain.
What plunged Maki even deeper into despair—
She discovered that with every clash of blades, the blood spurting from her wounds was eerily absorbed by the demonic blade in Yotohime's hand!
And as it drank more and more blood, Yotohime's strength and speed were actually climbing at a visible rate!
"Have you noticed?"
Yotohime let out a bout of mad laughter.
"My 'Blood Sakura' is a demonic blade capable of devouring an enemy's blood to nourish its master!"
"The more blood you shed, the stronger I become!"
"Obediently become my nourishment!"
Slash!
Under Yotohime's tempestuous onslaught, a flaw finally appeared in Maki's defense.
The icy blade grazed Maki's shoulder, carving away a large chunk of flesh.
Clenching her teeth, Maki did not let out a single cry of pain. Instead, she used the momentum to roll backward violently, opening up distance.
However, her condition had deteriorated to rock bottom.
The dizziness caused by excessive blood loss began relentlessly assaulting her brain, and the world before her eyes blurred.
'Is this as far as I go...?'
Panting heavily, Maki looked at the steadily advancing Yotohime, a strong sense of unwillingness rising within her heart.
She had clearly awakened the complete Heavenly Restriction, and she clearly possessed the determination to sever everything.
Why was she still driven into a corner by a monster like this?
Just as Maki's consciousness hovered on the brink of darkness.
A calm, gentle voice brimming with absolute power suddenly echoed deep within her mind.
"Maki, don't look with just your eyes."
"Close your eyes, and feel."
That was Yoru's voice.
The words that man had spoken to her during that special training period after the Goodwill Event cut through the fog in her mind like lightning.
"Your body is the most perfect weapon in this world."
"Feel every contraction of muscle, feel every surge of blood, feel every vibration of the surrounding air."
"When your heart settles completely into stillness."
"You will be able to see the truest form of this world."
Thump.
Thump.
Just as Yotohime's fatal strike was about to fall.
Maki slowly closed her eyes.
This seemingly desperate act of giving up resistance, however, caused a wave of intense, inexplicable unease to rise in Yotohime's heart.
Because she discovered in horror.
At this very moment, the aura of the dying, short-haired girl before her was undergoing a terrifying, bizarre metamorphosis that even she could not comprehend!