A Sacred Arrow flew past from behind him, accurately piercing the spine of that Illusion Fox.
The fox shrieked and collapsed to the ground, never to rise again.
Kobe Hikaru turned his head to look.
Kikyo still maintained her bow-drawing stance, her gaze calm.
The next moment, he had already returned to Kikyo's side.
The entire process took less than ten breaths.
"Done."
He said.
Kikyo looked at him without speaking.
But her hand, the one gripping the bow, relaxed slightly.
Not out of laxity.
It was... peace of mind.
So this is what it feels like to have someone by your side.
So this is what is known as a comrade-in-arms.
[ shikon no tama: naohi: Affinity + 1 ]
[ Current Affinity: 9 ]
[ It conveyed a message to you: "She is getting used to your presence." ]
Kobe Hikaru glanced at the panel, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
"Continue."
He said.
"There are seventeen left."
Kikyo nodded.
The bowstring was pulled taut once more.
The night was still long.
But she was no longer alone.
Volume 1: Chapter 22: The Cooperation of Blade and Arrow, muramasa Affinity Satisfied, Bloodthirsty Immortality, Six Transformations Complete.
The battle was not yet over.
Demons continued to arrive in an endless stream.
Kobe Hikaru's demon blade muramasa had turned crimson from the slaughter, and the purple patterns on the blade pulsed frantically like living blood vessels.
[ demon blade muramasa's mood is 'Ecstatic', it indicates: It hasn't been this full in a long time. ]
This blade's appetite was growing larger and larger.
Kobe Hikaru had no time to complain, because two more demons were rushing toward him.
One was a four-armed ape, each arm three times thicker than normal, with bulging veins and knotted muscles.
This was undoubtedly another [Strength Transformation].
A pure strength-type mutation; the most direct, and also the most troublesome.
Not to mention it had four arms, and each arm was actually one transformation.
Above Five Transformations.
The other was a humanoid figure formed from a mass of mist, without facial features, only a vague outline, its body periodically solidifying and then becoming ethereal.
But it wasn't something that had turned into mist.
Rather, it was the mist itself that had gained consciousness.
It had become a Mist Demon, a Mirage Demon.
This was undoubtedly an extremely troublesome type of demon.
In this world, in this era, everything and anything could become a demon. However, the more rigid the 'dead object', the greater the difficulty in becoming a demon; for something like mist, it was even harder.
Yet if it could succeed, upon appearing, it would be at least a high-level demon approaching Six Transformations or higher.
Because for mist to become a demon, it first needs to go through stages of being able to perceive, move, gather, and disperse, and only then can it fully control itself and transform into a demon.
And each of these stages counts as one transformation.
One solid, one ethereal.
Kobe Hikaru thought.
This combination is quite disgusting.
As this thought crossed his mind.
The four-armed ape attacked first, all four fists slamming down simultaneously.
Kobe Hikaru did not take it head-on, instead using [Ghost Step] to dodge to one side.
But just as he stood steady, that mass of mist had already drifted over.
A black hand extended from the mist, aiming straight for his chest.
"Bang!"
Kobe Hikaru was sent flying by the palm strike, crashing through two pillars.
This is the troublesome nature of a Mist Demon: it solidifies when attacking and becomes ethereal when being attacked.
Unless one can seize the opportunity the moment it solidifies, it is impossible to hurt it at all.
"Cough..."
Kobe Hikaru climbed out from the rubble, a trickle of black blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.
That palm strike was not light.
But his eyes lit up.
Because he saw it.
Through the blood mist drifting across the battlefield, he saw the pattern of when that mass of mist solidified.
Before every attack, its "core" would solidify first.
That core was located at the chest, only the size of a fist, and the time it stayed solid was about half a breath.
Half a breath.
That is enough.
Kobe Hikaru gripped the muramasa tightly again and charged toward that mass of mist.
The four-armed ape blocked his path, its four fists slamming down again.
This time, Kobe Hikaru did not dodge.
He raised his blade to parry.
"Clang—!"
A tremendous force came through, his arms trembling.
But he held his ground.
Just then, the mist drifted out from behind the ape, that hand reaching toward his back once again.
Kobe Hikaru did not turn his head.
He simply turned his body, just enough to clear the line of fire behind him.
"Twang!"
A Sacred Arrow whistled as it arrived.
The mass of mist wanted to turn ethereal, but the arrow came too fast.
It only managed to solidify its core in preparation for an attack—and then the arrow pierced into that core.
Spiritual power exploded.
The mist dissipated completely.
Then,
Kobe Hikaru pressed the advantage, his blade slashing upward, and in the moment the four-armed ape was stunned, he severed one of its arms with a single strike.
The ape shrieked and retreated.
But with only three arms left, it was no longer a threat.
Kobe Hikaru chased it down, three strikes.
All four limbs severed.
One final strike, decapitation.
[ demon blade muramasa: Affinity + 4 ]
[ Current Affinity: 93 ]
[ It conveyed a message to you: 'Almost there, almost full.' ]
Kobe Hikaru looked at the panel, his heart stirred.
It's at 93.
Only 7 points away from the maximum.
He looked around; eight demons remained.
That is enough.
"Continue."
He charged toward the next demon.
The ensuing battle was almost a one-sided slaughter.
The cooperation between Kobe Hikaru and Kikyo, which was already extremely tacit, became even more seamless.
The affinity of the muramasa in his hand continued to rise accordingly.
94.
96.
98.
99...
"The last one."
Kobe Hikaru looked at the shivering one-horned snake demon in front of him.
It was only a Five Transformations demon; it had been scared witless, wanting to run but unable to move.
Kobe Hikaru raised his blade.
One strike fell.
The head rolled off.
[ demon blade muramasa: Affinity + 1 ]
[ Current Affinity: 100 (Complete) ]
[ Congratulations, you have unlocked all bonds for 'demon blade muramasa'. ]
[ Unlocked Special Ability (3): Bloodthirsty Immortality ]
[ Effect: As long as the blade is stained with blood, your wounds will continuously recover. The more blood, the faster the recovery. ]
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