...What just happened?
The instant the deafening boom rang out, both Rakshasa Oni and Spider Demon in the distance felt their hearts violently jolt. Even Kōga, who had already fled far away, was slammed to the ground by that sudden burst of pressure, his entire body trembling uncontrollably, unable to move at all.
His two companions hurried to support their young lord, who had collapsed limply onto the ground.
"Kōga, what's wrong with you? Are you hurt somewhere?"
"Q-quick... quick... r-run..."
An unprecedented sense of terror had seemingly taken on substance, shackling his limbs and squeezing his throat. The words he forced out were so faint that even his two companions standing right beside him could not hear clearly.
"What did you say?"
"I said... r-run! Run!"
Only then did everyone finally hear his second sentence clearly.
Ginta patted Kōga's shoulder. "It's fine. We've already left that place by several kilometers. We're safe."
Beside him, Hakkaku sniffed the surrounding air and said, "Relax. I don't sense anyone approaching."
However, his companions' reassurances had no effect whatsoever. Kōga's entire body shook like chaff in the wind—he could barely even breathe anymore.
This was terror pushed to such an extreme that it triggered the warning signs of imminent respiratory arrest.
Ginta was instantly terrified. He immediately hoisted Kōga onto his back and bolted downhill as fast as he could.
Awooooo—
Hakkaku also let out a long, drawn-out wolf howl, calling for the nearby Wolf Demon Clan to leave this place immediately. Though their talents were far inferior to Kōga's, at a moment like this, that very lack of talent allowed them to keep moving.
...
Meanwhile, atop the narrow cliff pass.
The atmosphere had fallen into an eerie silence.
"Just now... what happened?"
Within the bandit gang guarding the merchant caravan, Rakshasa Oni muttered to himself as he stared at the spot where several of his "companions" had been standing moments ago.
—At this moment, aside from a sunken crater, there was nothing left there at all.
Just now, after that black-haired, black-robed shrine maiden finished speaking, everyone's vision had blurred for an instant. Accompanied by a thunderous roar, an intense pain erupted across their faces and bodies.
That was a shockwave formed purely from brute force. The majority of the bandit gang had been blasted away by the impact, while only Spider Demon and Rakshasa Oni, relying on their own strength, managed to stab their blades into cracks in the rock at the critical moment, barely preventing themselves from being blown off the cliff.
Then, the surrounding scenery began to rapidly reverse.
"You... you actually killed ordinary people?" Spider Demon was one of the few who could barely see what had just happened.
Just moments ago, he had seen the black-clad shrine maiden raise her right hand high into the air. Then, simultaneously, an enormous, illusory giant fist appeared in the sky.
Next, the black shrine maiden slammed her fist down onto the ground—and the massive fist in the heavens descended at the same time, at a speed fast enough to tear through the sound barrier, smashing those bandits so thoroughly that not even their corpses remained!
Under that colossal force, an entire section of the mountain cliff was sheared flat by the shockwave. Even the shrine maiden Kikyo beside her was left stunned by the power Satsuki had displayed.
And yet, this was already the weakest level of strength Satsuki could exert.
She had not even used any power at all—merely mobilized the air above. In fact, to avoid accidentally blasting the entire mountaintop into oblivion in a single strike, she had deliberately restrained herself.
The sole reason for holding back was simple: Satsuki did not want to accidentally kill Spider Demon, whose body was entwined with Kikyo's [Karma].
However, even though this strike was already restrained, Satsuki was still Satsuki. The vast, unrestrained gale she unleashed had already transformed into a raging torrent, engulfing everything atop the mountain. Rubble mixed with granite split apart as countless cracks spread downward along the mountainside.
The entire mountain trembled violently, as if it could no longer withstand such power.
Slowly withdrawing her flawless, delicate hand, Satsuki turned her golden Tenseigan toward Spider Demon and Rakshasa Oni, gently shaking her head.
"What you should be asking is—what should you do for me to spare your lives. Isn't that right?"
As she spoke, a trace of cruel amusement surfaced on Satsuki's lips. "I imagine you've used this very method on merchant caravans before. You're far more familiar with it than I am."
"A choice? A choice..."
At this point, what choice did Spider Demon and Rakshasa Oni even have left? They had already been utterly terrified by what they had just witnessed.
The thunderous roar of collapsing heaven and earth echoed unceasingly in their ears. They couldn't even speak loudly—any attempt to open their mouths resulted in near-gale-force winds flooding in. Their bones crackled violently throughout their bodies, and sparks even burst from their armor as it scraped against the rocks!
All scenery on the ground seemed to have vanished, leaving only waves upon waves of oscillating force.
Kikyo herself felt the same. Her entire body seemed unbearably heavy, the air pressure coming from all directions feeling ten times stronger. It was as if her body were submerged in a viscous lake—lifting even a finger was excruciatingly difficult. Both body and soul felt frozen solid, as though they could be overturned and drowned at any moment amidst these storm-like surging air currents.
And this was after Satsuki had already used the Tenseigan's repulsive force to help her offset the surrounding shockwaves.
Pff!
A mouthful of fresh blood sprayed from Rakshasa Oni's lips. The bandit leader now found it unbearably difficult even to raise his head—his heart had long since gone completely cold.
Having offended a shrine maiden of such strength, he understood that he no longer had any possibility of survival. As such, he had no intention of begging for mercy.
Just like the merchants he had once captured—their endings had already been decided the moment they were seized.
Far in the distance, the Wolf Demon Clan also sensed this immense force. However, they were already extremely far away and could not see what had actually happened. They could only feel the entire mountain trembling violently, the mountainside collapsing as a whole.
They were already at the outer edge of the affected area. Even so, they still felt such overwhelming shock—it was impossible to imagine what kind of destructive power lay at the epicenter.
"Could it be... a great yōkai has emerged?"
For a moment, an unbelievable thought surfaced in the minds of both Ginta and Hakkaku.
In their understanding, only the world's strongest great yōkai could possibly wield such power.
...
At the same time, Satsuki stood quietly in place, yet naturally exuded an aura of gazing down upon all under heaven.
"Since you managed to barely survive that strike, at least you don't need to be cleaned up like the trash just now."
Upon hearing Satsuki's words, Rakshasa Oni's expression twisted with shock and terror, utterly unable to speak.
As for Spider Demon, though his mind was usually far deeper, at this moment he had completely forgotten all his previous schemes. His thoughts were filled with nothing but escape—how to flee, how to survive under this shrine maiden's hand.
Who could have imagined that in such a remote backwater, they would encounter a shrine maiden with such terrifying power?
Was this really a human? If they had not personally witnessed Kikyo firing a demon-purifying arrow just moments ago, they might even have suspected that the two shrine maidens before them were yōkai in disguise.
"Since you've managed to endure the first round, then I'll give you a chance—"
As she finished speaking, Satsuki gently raised a single finger.
"Of the two of you, only one will be allowed to live."
"Now, make your choice."
...
In most circumstances, human nature simply cannot withstand testing—especially when that test uses survival, the most basic biological instinct, as leverage.
When faced with a threat to one's life, all those concepts artificially constructed to serve human social structures will completely collapse.
Morality, kindness, courage, fearlessness, loyalty... any of these can be cast aside.
In their place emerges a far uglier nature—one driven solely by an individual's desperate need to continue existing.
If ordinary people were like this, then bandits such as Rakshasa Oni and Spider Demon were even more so.
Thus, at this moment, there was no wasted talk at all. Rakshasa Oni immediately let out a furious roar. Without even pretending, he swung his blade straight at Spider Demon beside him!
"You idiot—so you just went straight for it..."
Rakshasa Oni's complete lack of hesitation nearly made Spider Demon suspect that the man had long harbored the desire to kill him.
After all, Spider Demon himself had secretly coveted control of this bandit gang for quite some time. He simply had never found a suitable opportunity to get rid of this eyesore.
This had originally been the perfect chance. For that purpose, Spider Demon had gone to great lengths to steal the Five Thunder Fingers from the Wolf Demon Clan. He had then secretly planted the treasure among the merchant caravan's goods, using the caravan to lure out the Wolf Demon Clan. He had carefully calculated the timing and route, ensuring his bandit gang could set up an ambush in advance.
To guarantee Rakshasa Oni's death, he had even set a trap inside the box containing the Five Thunder Fingers—one that would instantly kill Rakshasa Oni the moment he opened it.
And yet—everything had been completely ruined by that shrine maiden whose strength was utterly inhuman.
"Do you really believe what this shrine maiden said? A choice between two? That whoever kills the other gets to live?"
"You saw what just happened. We have no choice!"
Rakshasa Oni roared and charged at Spider Demon, gripping his katana with both hands and swinging it with ferocious force.
"...This idiot—doesn't even know how to stall for time?"
Spider Demon was utterly irritated. He wasn't some frail schemer who relied only on his brain—he was a bandit as well. His bare body was powerfully built, and in terms of raw strength, he was actually not much weaker than Rakshasa Oni.
The only issue was that he wasn't wearing samurai armor. Thus, after barely blocking Rakshasa Oni's katana, he twisted his wrist, knocked the blade aside, and immediately retreated to widen the distance.
"Do you really believe what this shrine maiden said? A choice between two? That whoever kills the other gets to live?"
"You saw what just happened. I have no choice!"
Rakshasa Oni roared again, charging forward with his katana flashing like a storm.
Spider Demon felt utterly vexed—what was it like having a pig for a teammate? You wanted to kill someone just thinking about it.
Since that was the case, he stopped pretending altogether. Planting his feet into a firm horse stance, Spider Demon charged straight at Rakshasa Oni.
Clang—
Sparks flew as the two men—who had been allies just moments ago—began slaughtering each other in earnest.
...
Meanwhile, Satsuki watched the clumsy brawl with clear interest, though it was unclear what mood drove her to do so.
The primary reason was to observe how [Karma] would change when its bearer faced mortal danger. The secondary reason was to observe Kikyo's reaction.
After all, the other end of this [Karma] was entwined around this shrine maiden herself. Satsuki found this strange phenomenon deeply intriguing.
The first question was simple—why would a shrine maiden like Kikyo form [Karma] with a bandit of all people?
In truth, from their first meeting, Satsuki had already seen through Kikyo's outwardly cold demeanor to the excessively gentle and compassionate heart beneath.
There was an old saying—lust is the root of all evil.
But the word lust here did not refer to any improper relationship between men and women. Rather, it referred to excess.
And this excess could be applied as a modifier to any noun, whether positive or negative.
That was why it was said that lust was the root of all evil.
Because once something becomes excessive, no matter how virtuous it originally was, it would inevitably produce negative consequences.
And Kikyo embodied excessive purity, excessive gentleness, and excessive compassion.
This excess was, in truth, a form of arrogance born from a lack of understanding of one's own limits—a belief that all good and evil were equal, neither humble nor proud. As long as a life appeared before her, she would save it if she could, regardless of circumstances.
Heh—what an astonishingly conceid soul it took to stand in judgment over life itself from such a lofty vantage.
If Kikyo's power had reached a level comparable to Satsuki's—or that of an Awakened One—she might have possessed the capital to see herself that way.
But in the end, she was merely an ordinary human.
If she could not restrain these excesses, then one day, she would inevitably be devoured by these seemingly beautiful qualities.
...
And yet, true nature was difficult to change.
At this moment, the shrine maiden watched the two men hacking at each other, her expression conflicted.
Though she said nothing, the pale fingers gripping her demon-purifying bow betrayed her true feelings.
The scene before her gravely violated Kikyo's inner nature. Yet Satsuki's strength, identity, and position left her with no suitable grounds to voice her thoughts.
That very reaction directly influenced the [Karma]. Within Satsuki's Tenseigan, she saw that the karmic thread had not weakened—instead, it had grown subtly thicker.
The battle between Rakshasa Oni and Spider Demon continued.
But the tide was gradually turning in Spider Demon's favor.
He wisely adopted a defensive stance. His footwork was steady, his breathing measured, forming a tight defense against Rakshasa Oni's assaults.
By contrast, Rakshasa Oni had already grown extremely impatient. This manifested in overly aggressive attacks filled with wasted movements, rapidly draining his stamina and throwing his footwork into disarray.
And realizing he was falling into a disadvantage only made it harder for him to calm down—he was completely unable to regulate his breathing.
"It'll be decided soon."
Satsuki suddenly spoke.
As if on cue, Rakshasa Oni's posture shifted. Seizing the opening when Rakshasa Oni's downward slash left him unable to recover in time, Spider Demon slid forward, closed the distance, and slashed diagonally upward with his katana.
The blade cut straight through the junction between arm and torso—precisely where Rakshasa Oni's samurai armor could not protect.
"Aah—!"
With a scream, one of Rakshasa Oni's arms was severed cleanly.
"Spider Demon, you bastard—!"
Suffering such grievous injury, Rakshasa Oni's eyes turned bloodshot. He let out a savage roar, clamped the katana's hilt between his teeth, and reached his remaining hand into his pocket.
Then—he pulled out a firearm.
Spider Demon froze. He had never imagined that their leader had been hiding such a trump card.
It seemed he had underestimated Rakshasa Oni all along. This man had secretly concealed his own final move for years.
He had never once heard any rumors of this.
"But at this distance, a firearm might not necessarily hit me."
Spider Demon had some understanding of firearms. He knew that even at this range, he still had a chance.
Now, it was time to gamble with his life.