The monster was pinned to the ground, but it wasn't dead yet. Shinji could see the wound where the bone spur pierced its face slowly healing.
Much slower than before, but still healing.
This thing…
"Isn't a demon." By now, the shrine maiden Tsubaki had also calmed down and was seeing this thing clearly. Though she wasn't as powerful as the dark shrine maiden Shinji remembered from the original story, that was fifty years in the future, right now she was no match for Kikyō.
But she was still a highly talented shrine maiden of this era. She had simply been frightened by something beyond her understanding. Her reaction now was perfectly normal.
She saw it. This thing had no demonic aura, no ghostly power like a demon.
Though it looked very much like an evil demon, it definitely wasn't a demon!
No wonder her barrier had been useless.
No wonder her shikigami had been so easily destroyed.
A shrine maiden's shikigami could fight demons because they had purification effects.
A shrine maiden's barrier was designed against demons.
Not every shrine maiden could unleash devastating destructive power with pure spiritual energy like Kikyō.
Against non-demonic things, a shrine maiden's combat effectiveness plummeted.
But.
"Whether this thing is a demon or not, it's hard to deal with," Shinji muttered.
Its regeneration was too strong. Ordinary attacks couldn't kill it.
But if ordinary attacks weren't enough
"Then I'll use extraordinary attacks!"
Shinji took a deep breath. The demonic aura within him began to surge.
Six Change, activated simultaneously.
Sharp Body, Keen Eye, Bow Arm, Spear Waist, Bone Soul, Blood Change!
Six powers interweaved within him.
Colliding, merging.
Shinji felt his body like a volcano about to erupt.
Searing power flowed through every vessel.
Hot.
But the heat excited him.
The monster struggled and finally broke free.
The bone spur pinning its jaw began to crack.
Its regeneration was so strong, even the bone spur was being slowly dissolved by its regenerative power.
Sensing the change, Tsubaki stepped back repeatedly.
In the distance, Kikyō lowered her bow. She saw Shinji was getting serious.
"Don't rush." Shinji's lips curved, not alarmed but excited. "I'll send you on your way now."
He raised his right hand.
Five fingers spread. Bone spurs grew from each fingertip, each about three feet long, like five slender bone swords.
Shinji gripped those bone blades.
And charged.
The monster had just broken free, preparing to counterattack
"trrk!"
Five bone blades struck simultaneously, piercing both shoulders, both legs, and its chest.
Five points, pinned at once.
"Owww—!" It screamed.
But this was only the beginning.
Shinji didn't stop.
His left hand also grew five bone blades.
He struck again.
This time, the abdomen. The back. The neck. More bone spurs erupted from his body.
From his arms. From his shoulders. From his back… each one a blade.
Each blade piercing into the monster's body.
Like a storm.
Like a dance.
Inspired by Kimimaro.
But not the same.
Kimimaro's Dance of Bones was elegant, like art. Shinji's Thousand-Linked Dance was savage, pure slaughter.
No aesthetic value.
Only pure killing intent.
Only relentless, forward-pressing slaughter.
Tsubaki had gone from stunned to… delighted?
She stood about a hundred feet away, watching that figure covered in bone spurs move under the moonlight.
Watching each gesture send out bone spurs. Each turn send flesh and blood flying.
The monster's screams grew weaker.
Its regeneration couldn't keep up with the injuries.
Too many wounds. Too many bone spurs.
Its body was pierced through with those white spurs like a hedgehog.
No, worse than a hedgehog.
Because those spurs kept growing inside it, bending, forking, interweaving like countless white vines spreading through its body, churning its organs into a pulp.
"Ugh… ugh…" It couldn't even scream anymore. Just a hoarse, wheezing sound.
With this, even the strongest regeneration seemed useless.
'So strong. So amazing.'
Tsubaki thought, if she could have a familiar like this, Kikyō wouldn't be able to compare at all. When it came to familiar, the Tahōtō was the specialist. Kikyō just relied on her naturally strong spiritual power.
If she had such a "puppet," she could subdue even the most powerful demons with confidence.
She never would have fallen into such danger just now.
And then
Shinji stopped moving.
He stood before the monster, covered in armor of bone and red.
The bone patterns on his demon mask gleamed coldly in the moonlight.
"Still alive?" he asked.
The monster didn't answer.
It couldn't speak anymore. But its eyes still moved.
Those red eyes were full of fear and resentment.
It seemed unable to understand.
It had immortality. Infinite regeneration.
Why had it been beaten like this?
Shinji looked into those eyes, his lips curving slightly.
"You're wondering why you can't beat me, right?" He crouched down, eye-level with the monster. "Simple."
"Because you're too weak."
He said it calmly.
But it was the truth. This thing before him wasn't actually that strong. It could only ignore the purification of purifying power and deal a sudden heavy blow to the shrine maiden Tsubaki because it wasn't a demon.
So Shinji needed to put in a little effort to suppress its immortality.
But in terms of pure strength, it was at most equivalent to a Fifth Change demon.
The monster's eyes were full of rage.
But this time, it really couldn't move.
Those bone spurs had completely pinned it to the ground. The spurs inside its body had completely locked down its ability to move.
Compared to before, this was more thorough. Completely pinned. Pierced through.
Two layers, inside and out!
Shinji stood up.
"But—" He looked at the wounds where the spurs pierced through.
Those wounds were bleeding. Not healing.
Where the spurs penetrated, the regeneration seemed suppressed.
"Interesting," he murmured.
Did the spurs from Bone Soul Change have a restraining effect on this thing's regeneration?
Or was it just that the spurs remained inside, preventing the wounds from closing?
He decided to experiment.
He raised his hand and pulled out one of the spurs pinning the monster's shoulder.
The wound immediately began to heal.
Very slowly, but it was healing.
"Just as I thought." Shinji pushed the spur back in. The healing stopped.
"As long as the spurs stay inside you, you can't regenerate."
He looked at the monster. "Then let these spurs keep you company."
The monster: "…"
As he spoke, Shinji crouched down again.
This time, his expression turned serious.
"Now, answer me one question."
The monster's eyes moved. It seemed to want to speak, but couldn't make a sound.
Shinji reached out and pulled out the spur pinning its throat.
"Cough… cough…" The monster coughed violently. The wound on its throat began to slowly heal.
"Kill… kill you…" It could finally speak, its voice hoarse, full of hatred. "I'll kill all of you—"
"You sure you want to waste this chance to talk?" Shinji interrupted.
Another spur had already formed in his hand.
Ready to pierce the monster's throat again at any moment.
The monster's roar came to an abrupt stop.
It stared at that spur, and finally, fear appeared in its eyes.
"Good." Shinji nodded, satisfied. "Now, answer my question."
"What are you?"