Kamaitachi.
Before his arrival in this world, Shinji had looked up a lot of information about yokai.
In legends, this thing was said to operate in groups of three: the first tripped people, the second cut them, and the third applied medicine.
But that was just folklore.
A real Kamaitachi was far more terrifying than the legends suggested.
Because its essence...
Was not a weasel.
It was wind.
Wind solidified into physical form.
Shinji watched that dark mass pressing down from the sky, his pupils contracting.
That thing was at least three stories tall, its body slender like a weasel, but the ends of its limbs were claws curved like sickles.
Its whole body was greyish-white, its fur gleaming with a metallic cold light in the moonlight.
The most eerie thing was its eyes.
No eyeballs.
Just two empty sockets, with howling rotating air currents inside.
That was the color of wind.
The color of nothingness.
[PIC]
"Quality Transformation…"
Shinji murmured.
Body Transformation was the first stage, referring to mutation in physical structure.
Quality Transformation was the second stage, referring to changes in mass and volume.
And the essence of Quality Transformation wasn't just "getting bigger and smaller".
It was the increase and decrease of mass.
It was the increase and decrease of density.
It was reshaping the very essence of one's existence.
For an ordinary yokai to reach Quality Transformation, they needed long accumulation. After completing Body Transformation, they had to continue devouring their own kind, using the lives of countless yokai to pile up their own "quality".
But a Kamaitachi was different.
Its starting point wasn't even a living creature.
It was wind.
Formless wind, by absorbing the demonic energy of heaven and earth, gradually increasing its own density.
From formless to tangible.
From nothingness to physical form.
This process itself was Quality Transformation.
In other words, from the moment this Kamaitachi before them was born, it was already destined to become an existence at the Quality Transformation level.
A true high-tier yokai.
The Kamaitachi let out a sharp shriek.
That sound wasn't like the roar of a wild beast. It was more like the whimper of a gale passing through a canyon.
Piercing.
Sharp.
As if countless knives were scraping against eardrums.
Then, it moved.
Just a flap of its wings.
A gale howled in.
Shinji's body was instantly blown backward, sliding, the bricks under his feet cracking and shattering one after another.
And this was just the aftermath!
He gritted his teeth, thrust Muramasa into the ground for leverage, barely steadying himself.
The surrounding bat swarm was scattered by this gale, many directly torn to shreds.
That Kamaitachi didn't even glance at them.
Its gaze, from beginning to end, was locked on one direction.
The Shikon Jewel.
"It's after the bead…"
Shinji's heart sank.
This was the real threat of the full moon night.
Not those small fry yokai, not the tens of thousands of bats.
But this Kamaitachi, attracted by the evil aura of the Shikon Jewel, at the Quality Transformation level, Seven Changes.
No wonder the Righteous Spirit had warned him.
No wonder it said the real threat hadn't arrived yet.
Shinji was about to open his mouth to warn Kikyō to be careful, when he suddenly felt a strange fluctuation from behind him.
That fluctuation came from the direction of the Shikon Jewel.
Not right.
Very not right.
He spun around abruptly.
He saw the Shikon Jewel, floating in mid-air, trembling violently.
The black qi that had been suppressed by the white light suddenly surged wildly, like a venomous snake breaking free from its chains, madly spraying outward.
"Hiss——"
A jet-black airflow shot out from the bead.
That airflow had a blurry humanoid outline, but no features, only a twisted, ferocious face.
Countless faces.
Stacked together.
That was the Corrupted Spirit.
It was the collective body of evil thoughts sealed within the Shikon Jewel.
It was the resentment of several hundred high-tier yokai, all above Seven Changes in life.
It was escaping!
"Damn it!"
Shinji understood instantly.
The meaning of the Righteous Spirit's last words.
"Watch out for me."
It wasn't talking about the Righteous Spirit itself.
It was talking about the Corrupted Spirit.
The Shikon Jewel was inherently two sides of one whole. The Righteous Spirit and the Corrupted Spirit coexisted within a single bead.
The Righteous Spirit suppressed the Corrupted Spirit, and the Corrupted Spirit was also waiting for a chance to turn the tables.
And on the full moon night, when the impure energy was at its peak, was exactly when the Corrupted Spirit's power was strongest.
Plus the arrival of the Kamaitachi, the demonic energy carried by that Quality Transformation-level yokai was enough to liberate the Corrupted Spirit's power to a certain extent.
This was the chance it had been waiting for!
While the Kamaitachi attracted everyone's attention, Kikyō was forced to split her focus dealing with the external enemy.
It would escape!
[Shikon no Tama · Corrupted Spirit: Cannot pursue]
[Warning: The Corrupted Spirit is breaking away from the Shikon Jewel]
[If the Corrupted Spirit successfully escapes, it will transform into an independent yokai individual]
[Danger Level: Extremely high]
The system panel madly popped up warnings.
Shinji watched that black airflow grow larger and larger, more and more physical, with only one thought in his mind.
He had to stop it!
But just as he was about to move, the Kamaitachi's second wave of attack arrived.
This time, it wasn't flapping its wings.
It charged directly.
Its three-story-tall body transformed into a greyish-white afterimage, so fast it was almost impossible to capture with the naked eye.
Where it passed, the ground was gouged with a deep trench.
Shinji had no time to think.
His body reacted before his consciousness.
He raised his blade to block.
"Clang——!"
A deafening crash of metal collision exploded.
Shinji's arms instantly went numb, and his whole body flew backward like a kite with a broken string.
He crashed through one pillar.
Then another.
Finally, he slammed into the shrine's stone wall, creating a human-shaped dent.
"Cough…"
He slid down from the wall, the corner of his mouth trickling black blood.
Internal injuries.
Although they were recovering at a visible rate, healed in just a few seconds, this was only one strike.
And the Kamaitachi clearly hadn't used its full strength.
Its target was the Shikon Jewel, not him.
He was just an ant in its way.
Shinji propped himself up with his blade and stood, looking towards the Kamaitachi.
That giant beast had already passed him, charging towards Kikyō and the Shikon Jewel.
And the Corrupted Spirit's aura was growing stronger and stronger.
That black humanoid figure had completely broken away from the bead, floating in mid-air, emitting an eerie, hissing laughter.
"Finally… finally waited…"
Countless faces spoke simultaneously, the voices uneven, enough to make one's scalp tingle.
"Five hundred years… I've waited five hundred years…"
"This time, no one can stop me!"
Shinji tightened his grip on the hilt. The blood that had just recovered flow boiled in his veins.
The Corrupted Spirit.
The Kamaitachi.
Caught between two forces.
This was the real crisis of the night.
And Kikyō,
He turned his head to look at that figure in white robes and red hakama.
Kikyō still stood in place, not retreating.
Her hands formed a mudra, spiritual power flowing around her body.
But Shinji could see that she was struggling.
Dealing with both the Corrupted Spirit and the Kamaitachi at the same time was too hard for anyone.
Even for the strongest shrine maiden of the Sengoku era.
The system panel suddenly popped up with a new prompt.
[Shikon no Tama · Righteous Spirit: It is struggling to convey a message, but the suppression of the Corrupted Spirit renders it unable to speak]
[It only leaves one word...]
['Believe']
Shinji looked at this word.
Believe?
Believe who?
Believe what?
He had no time to think.
Because the Kamaitachi was already in front of Kikyō.
Whether to continue increasing the Shikon Jewel's affection, or for other reasons, he couldn't just stand by and do nothing.