The night wind had changed.
Kikyō stood on the watchtower of Kaede Village, her longbow hanging at her side.
Her eyes were closed.
For a shrine maiden with powerful spiritual energy, eyes were sometimes unnecessary. The wind would bring back information from afar. The earth would transmit vibrations to her feet.
Among human monks and shrine maidens, they were more proficient in perception than physical prowess.
So, at this moment, Kikyō truly felt it.
Before this night, she had already understood, as if through direct experience, the purification of the area west of Kaede Village, in Suruga Province.
The violent, restless demonic aura that had been lurking there, like lightning about to explode had completely extinguished.
In its place was something new.
Shinji's demonic aura, impure but free of resentment.
He had won.
Not only that, but his aura now carried an aftertaste of lightning.
She could feel that the nature of that power had changed.
That originally violent lightning now meekly coiled around the cold aura of the demon warrior, like a tamed beast that had become a hunter's hound.
He had taken the thunder beast's power for himself.
Though she didn't know what means he had used, the lightning demonic aura was indeed now accompanying Shinji's own aura.
And this was only the beginning.
Next, the south.
That was the territory of the Hōjō main house. There, a demonic aura of insects had been lurking.
That aura had been so dense it could make one's chest tighten from dozens of miles away.
But now, that stench was dissipating.
Replaced by a violent boom.
That was divine punishment?
No.
It was Shinji.
Carrying the lightning power he had just obtained, he had dashed a hundred miles and brought divine retribution down upon the insect demon.
Insects fear fire. Even more so, they fear lightning.
Under that strike, all the damp, cold, and corrosion had been evaporated by the utmost yang, utmost strong lightning.
The space between heaven and earth seemed to have been cleansed.
Becoming clear.
"The second one." Kikyō counted.
Then the west. A demonic aura thick with poison.
Finally, the east.
A demonic aura eerie and sinister, carrying the scent of the dead.
But this scent might have been the most familiar to Shinji.
He was a demon warrior. A corpse who played with bone and blood.
Kikyō could almost picture the scene, Shinji standing before that demon, looking at those shambling corpse puppets, that crimson demon mask perhaps hiding a stiff but mocking smile.
Then, in the next instant, blood mist would erupt. He would turn the tables.
The eastern demonic aura also vanished.
In a single night, the four directions' demonic disturbances had all been swept away.
This was that man's method.
Not defense.
Only offense.
Eliminating all threats at their source.
Though she hadn't been there in person, at this moment, Kikyō felt as if she could sense Shinji's battles.
Could sense that boyish demon, that demon warrior, displaying his skills.
And indeed…
'He's quite impressive, isn't he?'
A voice suddenly echoed in Kikyō's ears, clear and pleasant. The shrine maiden slowly opened her beautiful eyes, her lashes fluttering as she looked down at her chest, where the Shikon Jewel was glowing faintly.
It was the pure spirit speaking.
Though she didn't have a system like Shinji's, as the chosen guardian of the Shikon Jewel, Kikyō could indeed sense the pure spirit's will within it.
She nodded slightly.
And she agreed with the pure spirit's words.
About that demon warrior.
That very unbelievable demon who fought alongside her.
But in truth, after Shinji succeeded in defeating the thunder beast, the subsequent victories were already inevitable.
He held the thunder beast's horn. Through affection, he could wield its lightning power.
So the remaining Gaikimaru, the venomous dragon, and the cat demon would have to face not just Shinji, but the thunder beast's lightning as well.
He could even gain power from the other demons.
As long as their corpses remained.
Of course, Kikyō didn't know this.
But it didn't diminish her mood.
In that moment, the corner of Kikyō's mouth seemed to twitch into a very faint smile.
But the next second, that faint smile froze.
She turned her head, looking outside the village, beyond the barrier she had deployed.
There, a dense mass of low-tier demons had been gathered.
Wolf demons, monsters, a jumble of lesser fiends. Though they couldn't break through the barrier, they had been constantly howling, scratching, making irritating noise.
Kikyō had intended to wait until they gathered enough, then eliminate them all at once. This wouldn't save spiritual power, but would conserve her relatively scarce stamina
But now.
Silence.
A deathly silence.
Those howls, scratches, footsteps, in an instant, all stopped.
But only the sounds stopped.
Kikyō's pupils contracted slightly.
She saw it.
Outside the barrier.
Hundreds of demons were still in attack poses.
A wolf demon's mouth was open wide, its fangs just an inch from the barrier. Drool hung in midair, no longer falling.
A monster had raised a bone club, muscles tensed but it was frozen mid-swing, motionless.
Not killed.
Not just physically frozen.
But
Time and space in this area seemed to have been forcibly paused by some terrifying power.
The wind stopped.
Leaves no longer swayed.
Even dust hung suspended in the air.
This was definitely not something those demons could do.
Nor was it something the four so-called vanguards she had sensed could achieve.
This pressure…
Kikyō gripped her longbow tighter.
Fog was rising.
Black fog rose from the ground, silently swallowing the frozen demons.
As the fog churned, footsteps sounded.
Very slow.
Very heavy.
An aged figure slowly emerged from the depths of the black fog.
An old man.
He wore an old grey kimono, over it a haori embroidered with dark somber patterns patterns.
His hair was grey and white, combed back meticulously.
In his hand, he leaned on a long sword. The scabbard was black, like charred wood.
He looked like an elderly, powerful noble who had walked out of a deep palace.
But in this world, in this era, even most powerful nobles in high positions were ordinary humans.
This man was different.
Because before him, everything seemed to freeze in place.
And because where he walked, the frozen demons turned to dust.
"I've long heard of your name." The old man stopped before the barrier and looked up.
On his wrinkled face, a kind but unsettling smile appeared.
"The shrine maiden of Musashi Province, called by the people the strongest among shrine maidens."
"Kikyō."
Kikyō didn't speak.
She had already recognized this person.
Or rather, this demon.
The name that had been mentioned before Shinji left.
The great demon who, centuries ago on Mount Ōe, followed Shuten-dōji to wreak havoc in Kyoto, giving even Minamoto no Yorimitsu, the guardian of Heian-kyō, a hard time.
The mastermind behind this incident.
Kidōmaru.
He had come.
Not at the end.
But at the moment when Shinji had just cleared the four directions, when Kaede Village's defenses were at their most depleted.
He had come personally.
Kikyō raised her bow.
The old man stopped just outside the barrier. His voice came slowly:
"The thing you hold, the Shikon Jewel…" His gaze fell on Kikyō. His voice was aged, forced from deep in his throat.
"I want it."
Ancient and cold.
Making one shiver.
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