After that came the farewell. Saying goodbye to the demon slayers.
Hiraikotsu had been returned. The village chief's ashes had been given to the elder. The conflict with Tsubaki was over. Everything that needed to be done was done.
"Lady Kikyō, travel safely!" Ido stood at the gate, waving.
The white-haired old woman beside him said nothing, just nodded slightly.
"Thank you." Kikyō answered, turned, and walked away.
Her white-and-red figure faded into the morning light.
Shinji followed behind her, glancing back at the mountain village.
The demon skulls hanging on the wooden fence still gleamed white in the sun, like countless hollow eyes watching them.
This journey was over.
The two walked back along the path they'd come.
The mountain road wound on. Lush trees on either side.
Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground.
As he walked, Shinji continued his usual habit of mentally reviewing the past few days.
Reviewing had become a habit for him.
Necessary.
To get stronger, to survive in this chaotic world, he needed to constantly summarize and organize his experiences
First, Hiraikotsu.
Maxed affection, gained the ability [Bone Soul Change].
This ability evolved his [Shield Bone Change] into an integrated offensive and defensive form. He could grow bone spurs and blades from any part of his body.
Second, the Shikon Jewel.
The Pure Spirit's affection had reached 56. He'd obtained [Spirit Sight] and the next talent, [Inspiration].
Based on this pace, maybe at max affection he'd gain 'control' over spiritual power.
Though he was still a ways from the third threshold, the progress was steady.
Third, Yura's comb.
Affection was still negative, but had gone from -30 to about -15.
Slow and steady. No rush.
Finally... that demon.
The world of Demon Slayer existed in this world too.
That meant the 'Progenitor of Demons,' Muzan Kibutsuji, was lurking somewhere.
Those immortal demons were wandering about.
Though not many, they were still a problem.
But at the same time, an opportunity.
If he could find a Nichirin blade, that weapon infused with solar energy, it might be a chance to grow stronger.
In this supernatural world, even a small amount of sun or moon essence would bring significant improvement.
But that was all for later.
The most important thing now was… materialization.
This was his current biggest bottleneck.
As before, the Sixth Change was the limit of Body Transformation. He had already reached this threshold.
Sharp Body, Keen Eye, Bow Arm, Spear Waist, Bone Soul, Blood Change.
Six abilities, corresponding to six parts of the body.
Adding another transformation was theoretically impossible.
But he had found a way.
Through fusion. Through adding 'details' on the foundation of 'transformation.'
It seemed like it didn't help with true qualitative change, but Shinji knew it did.
The threshold for materialization was too high.
It required control over mass, volume, density.
Changes to basic physical properties.
Even the control of elemental attributes.
The gap between demons who had achieved materialization and ordinary demons was huge.
Ordinary demons needed decades or even centuries of accumulation to reach materialization.
And he had only been in this world for a few months. Breaking through to materialization in a short time was almost impossible.
Though he could gain new transformations by maxing affection with non-living things. Theoretically, if he maxed affection with an 'element,' he could gain elemental transformations.
But that was very difficult.
Because it was hard for someone who wasn't naturally an elemental demon to master an element, let alone become an element, even if he maxed affection with an object with elemental abilities, at most he'd gain the ability to control the element. That wasn't materialization, but an evolution of Body Transformation.
For Shinji, changes in mass were definitely easier to grasp.
But achieving it quickly through normal means was indeed hard.
Unless… he used quantitative change to achieve qualitative change.
Like he had already done and succeeded with his fusion.
[Bone Soul Change].
Originally, Shield Bone Change only made bones hard.
But after merging with Hiraikotsu's ability, bones could grow, be shaped, emerge from any part of the body.
Though still within the Body Transformation, it was close to the edge of materialization.
So the question was.
What if he kept adding new changes to his other Changes?
Kept enriching the content of each Changes?
The Sixth Change was the limit, but the capacity of the Sixth Change was not.
This was a path no one had walked.
Though most demons were muddled and didn't have Shinji's habit of organizing and summarizing, their instincts pushed them to absorb the chaotic demonic aura in the air, increasing the quantity of their 'Changes' to break through to materialization faster.
No demon had thought about pushing their foundation in the Body Transformation stage to the limit.
Because it was too slow.
Too tiring.
And not necessarily useful.
But Shinji was different.
He had the system.
He could continuously gain new abilities by maxing affection with non-living things.
For him, this was actually a faster, more suitable path.
As long as he found enough targets of similar types… he could fill each Change.
Turn a hill into a mountain.
And then use pure quantity to breach the threshold of quality.
This line of thinking seemed feasible to Shinji.
Though difficult, not impossible.
And if he succeeded, he could complete multiple changes at once.
Go from Sixth Change to Eighth, maybe even Ninth Change in one go.
The key was finding more suitable 'things' to add to his Sixth Changes.
Like weapons.
Like objects.
Like… other non-living things the system could recognize.
Max affection, gain talent.
Enough talent, stack them onto the Sixth Changes.
When the accumulation reached a certain point… maybe it would trigger qualitative change.
Shinji reached a conclusion.
He started walking again, catching up to Kikyō ahead.
His mood was lighter than before.
At least, he had found a direction.
But, just as Shinji was thinking, Kikyō suddenly stopped.
The wind ahead was stronger. Wilder. Surging.
"What's wrong?" Shinji looked up.
And saw Kikyō's expression.
On that cool face, her brow was tightly furrowed.
In her dark eyes, a rare emotion appeared… heaviness.
Shinji followed her gaze.
Before them was an open plain.
There should have been farmland. Farmers should have been working.
Though this world was full of demons, human civilization was still dominant. During the day, yang energy was strong, demonic aura was relatively weak. Demons didn't often appear. People could still work at sunrise and rest at sunset.
As long as they returned to their village before nightfall.
But now
No people. No farming.
Only desolation.
And corpses.
Bones strewn about. Bodies everywhere.
In the distance, a plume of black smoke rose. Not gentle. Not peaceful. Below it, flames blazed.
That was…
"War?" Shinji narrowed his eyes. He was already more than familiar with this sight.