The night outside the cave was very quiet. Unnaturally quiet.
Shinji had taken less than ten steps from the cave mouth when he felt it.
It was the Shikon Jewel.
It was glowing.
That thumb-sized bead in his robe was emitting a soft purple light through the cloth bundle, gentle but impossible to hide.
The light pierced the rough hemp, pierced his battered armor, standing out in the night like a lantern.
No, more conspicuous than a lantern.
Because the light was laced with a unique aura.
A mixture of spiritual power and demonic energy.
To humans, this aura might just be an indescribable sense of mystery.
But to yokai, this was a piece of meat.
A piece of fragrant, glowing, mouth-watering meat that would make any yokai drool.
"Shit."
Shinji cursed under his breath.
He should have seen this coming.
The reason those yokai had been hunting the Shikon Jewel wasn't just because of its legend. It was because the jewel itself was a massive signal beacon.
As long as it existed, as long as it wasn't sealed, it would constantly leak its aura into the surroundings.
Like an eternal bonfire, attracting every moth for miles around.
"Hrrrr——"
A low growl echoed from afar.
Shinji looked up. At the edge of the forest, countless eyes glowed in the darkness.
Red, green, yellow, purple.
Dense as stars.
Those eyes were moving fast, converging on his location.
"Here we go again."
Shinji pressed his left thumb against the tsuba, lowering his center of gravity.
The system panel automatically popped up.
[Large number of hostile targets detected approaching.]
[Cursed Blade Muramasa: Mood changed to 'Hyper'. It conveys a message to you: 'Dinner time again'.]
"You're pretty optimistic, aren't you."
The corner of Shinji's mouth twitched.
Before the words had even faded, the first wave of yokai burst from the forest.
Leading the charge were three one-eyed ogres.
They stood over three meters tall, each with a single massive eye in the center of their head, skin the rusted dark red of iron. They each swung a thick, spiked club.
"Found it!"
The lead ogre roared in excitement.
"The Shikon Jewel is on that demon warrior!"
"Take it!"
The three ogres surged forward simultaneously. The ground beneath them exploded, and their massive bodies bore down on Shinji like three mountains of flesh.
Shinji didn't retreat.
A demon warrior's body knew no fear. It certainly wouldn't be intimidated by this level of pressure.
He simply watched their movements calmly, searching for an opening.
The lead ogre's club was raised the highest, exposing the gap under its arm.
There.
Demonic energy surged beneath Shinji's feet.
[Phantom Step].
His form vanished.
The next moment, he was on the lead ogre's left side.
He drew the blade.
A black arc of light slashed upward, precisely slicing into that exposed armpit.
Clang——!
The blade sliced through the ogre's armpit, traveled upward, split its shoulder blade, and finally burst out through its neck.
That single stroke nearly sheared off its entire left arm and half its torso.
The ogre's single eye went wide. Before it could even scream, it crashed to the ground.
"Leader!"
The remaining two ogres froze for a split second, then erupted into even more frenzied roars.
Two spiked clubs came crashing down from left and right, a pincer attack.
Shinji didn't dodge.
He lunged forward, dropping flat and sliding along the ground, slipping right through the gap between the two clubs.
The clubs slammed into empty earth, gouging out two massive craters.
Shinji was already behind the ogre on the right.
He reversed his grip and stabbed into the back of its knee.
The tip punched through, spraying blood.
The ogre's knee buckled. It dropped to one knee.
Before it could react, Shinji had leaped onto its back. The blade swept across.
The head hit the ground.
The third ogre saw this and turned to run.
Shinji jumped down from the corpse and formed a hand seal with his left hand.
Sorcery: Demon Firefly.
A ball of demonic blue flame shot out, nailing the fleeing ogre square in the back.
The fire exploded. The ogre screamed and tumbled to the ground.
Shinji walked over and ended it with one stroke.
Three one-eyed ogres. Less than thirty seconds from start to finish.
[Cursed Blade Muramasa: Affection +1]
[Current Affection: 28]
But this was just the beginning.
More eyes were pouring out of the forest.
Blue-skinned goblins, snake-bodied yokai, centipede spirits, bird-headed monsters…
And some miscellaneous yokai Shinji couldn't even name.
They swarmed in, surrounding him on all sides.
"It's him!"
A familiar voice rang out from within the yokai mob.
Shinji followed the sound and spotted the group that had been chasing the old man earlier.
Or rather, what was left of that group.
Leading them was a larger blue-skinned goblin, a head taller than the common ones, its skin covered in a layer of rough scales.
Clearly, their leader.
"This demon warrior is the one who stole the Shikon Jewel!"
The goblin leader pointed at Shinji, shouting to the gathered yokai.
"Kill him! The Shikon Jewel is ours!"
"Ours!"
The mob erupted in an ear-splitting roar.
Shinji scanned the crowd.
Rough estimate: at least two hundred.
More than the wave outside the cave earlier.
Looked like the Shikon Jewel's attraction for yokai was no joke. Yokai from all the surrounding mountains had been drawn in.
"You really are a troublemaker, aren't you."
Shinji muttered under his breath, right hand tightening on the hilt.
The Shikon Jewel in his robe continued to emit its soft purple glow, utterly indifferent to his complaint.
[Shikon no Tama: Current Status 'Dormant', Affection cannot be unlocked.]
Doesn't even respond.
Even harder to deal with than that sword.
"Ah, forget it."
Shinji let out a breath.
He raised his head and looked at the encircling mob. His eyes with jet-black sclera and blood-red pupils held no fear, only cold indifference.
"Since you're all so eager to walk right into my blade..."
He drew the sword.
The blade gleamed with a cold, dim light under the moon, the temper line faintly tinged with purple.
"Then don't blame me for being rude."
The mob seemed frozen for a second by his aura, but then greed overpowered fear.
"All together now!"
At the goblin leader's command, over two hundred yokai charged as one.
Shinji met them head-on.
Cutting a bloody path forward.
That was his only choice.
Amidst the humming of the blade, Shinji swung, cutting, advancing. Slashing to slash.
Slash. Slash. And again. Slash!
[Affection: 30]
[Unlocked Trait: Blood Resonance]
[Unlocked Bond Dialogue (2): It tells you it's very satisfied with today's meal and reveals a secret, its creator was a swordsmith named 'Muramasa', and every blade he forged carried a 'bloodthirsty' curse.]
[Within your field of vision, all blood shall become your 'eyes'. Resonate with the blood, and dance with the slaughter!]