Time flew by, and three days passed in the blink of an eye.
The night sky was vast, the full moon hung overhead, large and white like a plate.
The moonlight was stark white, casting shadows on the ground like freshly spilled ink, so dark they seemed greasy.
Shinji sat on the wooden platform in the guest house, without lighting a lamp.
No need to.
The light outside the window was almost glaringly bright, yet carried a chill.
But that wasn't moonlight at all. It was the near-substantial corrupted energy overflowing from the direction of the shrine.
Purple so deep it was black, black so intense it shone.
That was the light of the Shikon Jewel.
It was the evil aura of the 'Corrupted Spirit', murky and cold, the demonic energy emanating from the several hundred high-tier yokai lurking within.
According to information later revealed by the Righteous Spirit.
Ever since the Shikon Jewel was formed, the soul of the strongest shrine maiden, Midoriko, had been constantly battling with the vengeful spirits of several hundred, even a thousand, high-tier yokai, and even great yokai.
Normally, Midoriko's soul had the upper hand.
So most of the time, the 'Righteous Spirit' was active, and most of the time, the Shikon Jewel manifested as a clear, translucent 'white jewel'.
Only when the Shikon Jewel fell into the hands of a demon with a murky heart, or during the full moon night, when the impure energy was at its peak.
Would the Corrupted Spirit gain the upper hand.
And its internal corrupted energy would be unleashed without restraint.
That was this moment.
This night.
Shinji reached down and pressed the Muramasa at his waist.
The blade hummed in its sheath, like a starving stray dog catching the scent of blood.
"Don't rush."
Shinji patted the hilt.
"Plenty to go around tonight."
He pushed open the door and went out.
The village before him was eerily quiet.
No insects chirping, no dogs barking, not even the rustle of wind through leaves.
The air was like solidified glue.
Shinji looked up.
Three feet above his head, there was a thin, transparent film of light, like an upside-down bowl, separating the entire village or more precisely, the hill where the shrine stood, from the outside world.
Another barrier.
Shinji was certainly no stranger to it.
But he could also see how this barrier differed from the ones Kikyō had used before.
It didn't cover the whole village, only the villagers' dwellings, but deliberately 'leaked' the shrine at its core.
More than defense, it was also for soundproofing.
She made the area around the village, around the villagers' houses, extremely quiet.
She made it so the people inside couldn't hear the commotion outside, nor feel the aura outside.
That woman wanted the villagers to sleep soundly.
Then, she herself stood inside the shrine, unprotected by the barrier.
To face all the crisis alone.
"Really stubborn."
Shinji muttered.
At the same time, he let his demonic energy surge out, transforming into dense 'ghostly aura'.
Then used that 'ghostly aura' to form armor.
And put on the demon mask!
…
Shrine platform.
The wind was strong.
The wind here was different from down the mountain, carrying a fishy smell, the scent of highly concentrated demonic energy.
Kikyō stood before the shrine hall.
She wasn't holding the kagura suzu, nor was she praying.
In her hand was that longbow, the quiver hanging at her back. Her white robes and red hakama were whipped loudly by the gale, like a paper kite about to snap.
Suspended in the air before her was that bead.
Jet black.
Ink-black energy sprayed from the bead, that was the Corrupted Spirit, the collective body of resentment from several hundred powerful demons after death.
They roared, they struggled, trying to break through the net of spiritual power binding them.
"Hiss——"
"Roar——"
In the darkness, countless eyes lit up.
From all directions.
On treetops, atop the torii gate, behind stone lanterns, even from within the earth.
The diners attracted by the demonic energy riot had arrived.
This time, it wasn't several hundred low-tier yokai.
Though the number wasn't large, only about a hundred.
The quality, however, was astonishingly high.
Directly ahead, a tsuchigumo three meters tall, its eight long legs planted in the ground like steel spears, the shell on its back gleaming with a cold metallic light.
To the left, two conjoined large-headed goblins, dragging rusted iron chains, each step gouging a deep furrow in the earth.
To the right, a giant moth covered in human faces, its wings scattering clouds of phosphorescent powder that made rocks smoke on contact.
All were high-tier yokai that had completed the Six Changes of 'Body Transformation', and were even touching the threshold of 'Quality Transformation'.
Kikyō's face was expressionless.
She drew an arrow and nocked it on the string.
The arrowhead pointed at the compound eye of that tsuchigumo.
Spiritual power gathered, white light flared.
But just then, a faint sound came from behind her.
The sound of straw sandals on stone.
Very soft, but in this moment of tension, it was more piercing than thunder.
Kikyō didn't turn around.
She knew who it was.
That mix of human reason and undead deathly aura was unique in all the world.
"Go back."
She said.
Her voice wasn't loud, somewhat scattered by the wind.
"Go back where?"
Shinji walked to her side, half a step away.
Not blocking her line of fire, yet close enough to shield her if needed.
That suit of armor rippled, stirring up surging demonic energy, yet it wasn't filthy. Instead, it inexplicably made Kikyō feel a certain weightiness.
"That house down there has too good soundproofing. Stuffy."
He pushed his demon mask halfway up his face, revealing part of his fair, pale features. His crimson eyes focused on the demon horde ahead, yet looked like he was surveying a feast.
"And a scene like this, not calling me? That's not right."
He said.
Kikyō's fingers still held the bowstring.
"This is my duty."
"The corruption of the Shikon Jewel must be purified by the guardian shrine maiden."
"I know."
Shinji drew his blade.
Clang——
Muramasa left its sheath, its bright blade gleaming with an eerie light under the moon, the temper line like living blood vessels, madly pulsating.
[Cursed Blade Muramasa: Mood 'Extremely Manic'. It wants to devour everything before it.]
Shinji ignored the system's flood of messages, just pointing the blade tip diagonally at the ground.
"You need to purify the bead and keep these guys at bay. Too much to handle."
"These guys are thick-skinned. Your arrows are powerful, but they're not group damage... I mean, you can't target clusters, and the number of arrows isn't unlimited either."
He turned his head and glanced at Kikyō.
That cool profile was breathtakingly beautiful in the glow of the spiritual power, and also lonely enough to make one's heart ache.
"Just like before."
Shinji said.
"You attack from range, I'll fight up close."
"I'll handle the beheading, you handle the finishing blows."
"The ones that slip through are yours, the ones that get in your face are mine."
Simple.
Direct.
He didn't even bother asking about the reason for tonight's events, didn't ask Kikyō why.
It just felt natural, obvious.
He also felt that Kikyō probably needed his help.
This shrine maiden was certainly powerful, but after that previous battle and these three days together, Shinji could actually sense that, compared to the original work he knew, the young woman before him hadn't yet reached her strongest stage.
People grow.
When a fictional work transforms into reality, this was only natural.
At least, in his impression, at her peak, Kikyō's spiritual power might not have grown much more, that was an innate potential, and she had already reached her limit.
However, in terms of using her abilities, she was far weaker than at her peak.
He couldn't miss this chance to act either.
Fighting with Kikyō's cooperation… was like having a 'safety net'. It could increase Muramasa's affection, and also increase the Shikon Jewel's affection.
This was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Beneficial to others, more beneficial to himself.
Why not?
Kikyō fell silent.
She wanted to say something, but didn't know where to start.
At this moment.
The young shrine maiden's fingers on the bowstring relaxed slightly for an instant, then tightened again.
The presence behind her was very steady.
She could feel it, the existence of this boyish-looking yokai, this demon warrior at her side.
He was like a wall.
A wall she could entrust her back to.
This was an experience she had never had.
As a shrine maiden, she was always the one standing at the front, with the villagers, the weak, behind her.
No one had ever stood at her side.
No one had ever fought alongside her.
This was the first time.
"…"
The wind lifted her long hair, the ends brushing against Shinji's arm.
"Okay."
One word.
Light and floating, yet heavy as a thousand catties.
[Shikon no Tama · Righteous Spirit: Affection +2] [Current Affection: 8 (Trust)] [It conveys a message to you: 'She is no longer alone.']
Shinji grinned.
That was enough.
"Let's go!"
The brick under his foot shattered.
A grey streak like lightning, lunging straight at the largest tsuchigumo.
That was the toughest bone in the whole spread.
The tsuchigumo roared, its two front legs coming down like battering rams.
Shinji didn't dodge.
The blade edge flicked upward, black blade energy tracing a half-circle in the air.
"Clang!"
Sparks flew.
Blocked.
At the same time, a piercing sound.
"Twang!"
A streak of white light grazed past Shinji's temple, precisely nailing the tsuchigumo's open mouth.
A purification arrow.
The tsuchigumo screamed and reeled back.
Shinji used the momentum to leap, the blade tip thrusting straight for its compound eye.
"Thanks!"
He shouted in mid-air.
No need to turn around.
He knew that figure in white robes and red hakama was right there.
He was before her, she was behind him.
That was enough.