Ink-black Demonic Qi surged from the shikon jewel; that was Magatsuhi, a collective of grudges left behind by hundreds of powerful demons after their deaths.
They roared and struggled, trying to break through the net of spiritual power that bound them.
"Hiss—"
"Roar—"
In the darkness, countless pairs of eyes lit up.
From all directions.
On the treetops, atop the torii, behind stone lanterns, and even within the soil.
The diners attracted by the eruption of Demonic Qi had arrived.
This time, it was not a few hundred low-level demons.
Although the number was small, only about a hundred or so.
But the quality was shockingly high.
Directly ahead, a three-zhang-tall Tsuchigumo had its eight long legs planted in the ground like steel spears, its dorsal carapace glinting with a cold, metallic light.
To the left, two conjoined demons with massive heads dragged rusted iron chains in their hands, carving deep furrows into the ground with every step.
To the right, a giant moth covered in human faces flapped its wings, showering the area with phosphorescent powder that caused stones to smoke upon contact.
They were all high-level demons who had completed the 'Physical Transformation' Six Transformations, and some had even touched the threshold of 'Qualitative Transformation'.
Kikyo remained expressionless.
She drew an arrow and nocked it on the string.
The arrowhead pointed at the Tsuchigumo's compound eye.
Spiritual power gathered, and a white light suddenly appeared.
But just then, a soft sound came from behind her.
It was the sound of straw sandals stepping on stone slabs.
It was very light, but in such a tense, hair-trigger moment, it was more piercing than thunder.
Kikyo did not turn around.
She knew who it was.
That scent, mixed with human reason and the deathly aura of a demon, was unique in all the world.
"Go back."
She said.
Her voice was not loud, scattered slightly by the wind.
"Go back where?"
Kobe Hikaru walked to her side, positioning himself half a step away.
He neither blocked her line of fire nor prevented him from helping her block blades at any moment.
His armor rippled, stirring up a surging Demonic Qi that was not filthy, but instead felt inexplicably heavy to Kikyo.
"The soundproofing in that room below is too good; it's stifling."
He pushed the oni mask on his face halfway up, revealing half a fair, pale face. His red eyes fixed on the group of demons and monsters ahead, yet he looked as if he were gazing at a full-course feast.
"Besides, not calling me for this kind of excitement is just not right."
He said.
Kikyo's fingers remained hooked on the bowstring.
"This is my duty."
"The filth of the shikon jewel must be purified by the shrine maiden who guards it."
"I know."
Kobe Hikaru drew his blade.
Clang—
muramasa left its sheath, its bright blade shimmering with an eerie light under the moonlight, while the blade's pattern pulsed frantically like living blood vessels.
[demon blade muramasa: Mood 'Extremely Frenzied', it wants to swallow everything before it.]
Kobe Hikaru ignored the system's spam and simply pointed the tip of his blade diagonally toward the ground.
"You need to purify the jewel while also defending against this lot; you won't be able to handle it all."
"These guys have thick skin. Although your arrows are fierce, they aren't exactly area-of-effect damage... I mean, you can't target a group, and your arrows aren't infinite."
He turned his head to look at Kikyo.
Her cold, beautiful profile looked breathtaking under the glow of spiritual power, yet it was also heartbreakingly lonely.
"Same as before."
Kobe Hikaru said.
"You handle long-range, I'll handle melee."
"I'll take care of chopping off heads, you take care of the finishing blows."
"Any that slip through are yours, I'll take the head-on clashes."
Simple. Direct.
He didn't even ask too much about the reason for tonight's events, nor did he ask Kikyo why.
It just seemed natural and taken for granted.
He also felt that Kikyo probably needed his help.
Although this shrine maiden was very powerful, after the previous battle and their three days together, Kobe Hikaru could actually sense that, compared to the original work he was familiar with, the girl before him had not yet reached her peak stage.
People grow.
When a fictional work is transformed into reality, this is only natural.
At least in his impression, during her prime, Kikyo's spiritual power might not have increased much—that was, after all, innate potential, and it had already reached its limit.
However, in the application of her abilities, she was far stronger than she was now.
He was even less likely to let this opportunity to fight slip by.
Battling with Kikyo's cooperation... was equivalent to having a'safety net'; it could boost both muramasa's favorability and the shikon jewel's favorability.
This was also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Beneficial to others, and even more beneficial to himself.
Why not do it?
Thus, Kikyo fell silent.
She wanted to say something, but didn't know where to start.
At this moment, the young shrine maiden's fingers, which were hooked on the bowstring, loosened slightly for an instant before tightening again.
The aura behind her was very steady.
She could feel the presence of this teenage-looking demon, the Oni Samurai, by her side.
He was like a wall.
A wall to whom she could entrust her back.
This was an experience she had never had before.
As a shrine maiden, she was always the person standing at the very front, with villagers and the weak behind her.
No one had ever stood by her side.
And no one had ever been able to fight alongside her.
This was the first time.
"..."
The wind blew through her long hair, the tips brushing against Kobe Hikaru's arm.
"Fine."
One word. Light, yet heavy as a thousand jun.
[shikon no tama: naohi: Favorability + 2]
[Current Favorability: 8 (Trust)]
[It conveyed a message to you:'She is no longer alone.']
Kobe Hikaru grinned.
That was enough.
"Let's go!"
The blue bricks under his feet shattered.
A gray shadow, swift as lightning, lunged directly at the largest Tsuchigumo.
That was the toughest bone in the whole meal.
The Tsuchigumo roared, its two front legs smashing down like battering rams.
Kobe Hikaru didn't dodge.
He parried upward with his blade, black blade aura tracing a semicircle in the air.
"Clang!"
Sparks flew.
He blocked it.
At the same time, the sound of something breaking through the air arose.
"Twang!"
A white light flew past Kobe Hikaru's temple, precisely pinning into the Tsuchigumo's open mouthparts.
Sacred Arrow.
The Tsuchigumo screamed and recoiled.
Kobe Hikaru used the force to leap into the air, his blade tip thrusting directly at its compound eye.
"Thanks!"
He shouted in mid-air.
No need to look back.
He knew that the figure in white robes and red hakama was right there.
He was in front of her, she was behind him.
That was enough.
Volume 1: Chapter 21 The Shrine Maiden's Unprecedented Feelings, So-called Friends, So-called Comrades-in-arms
The Tsuchigumo's compound eye exploded, spraying dark green fluid all over Kobe Hikaru's face.
Kobe Hikaru spat out a curse, but he couldn't be bothered with that right now.
He followed through with the blade of his mass-produced famous sword, carving a half-foot-deep crack into the Tsuchigumo's head shell.
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