Shinji landed in front of Kikyō.
His grey robes flapped in the night wind, his white hair lifting.
The crimson demon mask covered most of his face, revealing only a pair of matching crimson eyes, gleaming coldly under the moonlight.
Shinji didn't look back.
He just stood there, his left hand holding the thunder horn slightly raised, purple electric arcs still jumping between his fingers.
But this silence finally let Kikyō's suspended heart settle somewhat.
"The demonic auras from the four directions are gone," Kikyō said.
"Dealt with." Shinji's tone remained flat. "The thunder beast, Gaikimaru, the venomous dragon, the cat demon… all dead."
Kikyō didn't ask for details.
She just looked at that back, at the faintly visible nape beneath the pale hair.
[Shikon Jewel · Pure Spirit: Affection +1]
[Current Affection: 58 (Trust)]
[Well done, it says.]
Shinji saw the prompt on his panel.
But he had no time to respond.
Because
"Interesting." Kidōmaru's voice came from ahead, aged, cold, carrying lingering anger and surprise. "So you're Shinji?"
He stood ten yards away, his long blade lowered, its surface glowing with an eerie blue light.
Those cloudy old eyes were fixed on Shinji, like he was examining an interesting toy.
"Slaying four demon leaders in a single night…" His gaze fell on the thunder horn in Shinji's left hand. "And you've taken the thunder beast's power for yourself?"
Shinji didn't answer.
He just raised his left hand. The purple glow from the thunder horn intensified.
"You are strong," Kidōmaru continued. "Stronger than I imagined."
"But—"
He vanished.
Almost as if disappearing into thin air.
Shinji's pupils contracted sharply.
Fast!
Too fast!
He instinctively raised his blade to block.
Clang—!
Metal clashed.
Sparks flew.
Muramasa met the blue-glowing long blade. The shockwave sent surrounding grass and trees flying.
Shinji's arms went numb. His whole body was pushed back more than three steps.
And Kidōmaru still stood in place, his posture unchanged.
"Good reflexes. Though your demonic aura isn't strong, your physique is indeed not something ordinary lesser demons can match."
The old demon's voice came from behind.
He seemed genuinely admiring.
With Bone Soul Change, though Shinji's demonic aura wasn't dense, his sheer combat ability could indeed match an ordinary Seventh Transformation demon.
However…
Shinji spun around, Muramasa swinging horizontally but only cutting through empty air.
Kidōmaru had already appeared to his right, the tip of his blade inches from Shinji's ribs.
"Pity. Still too slow."
Shinji didn't hesitate.
Bone spurs erupted from his ribs, aiming straight for Kidōmaru's wrist.
[Bone Soul Change] activated.
White bone spurs burst from all over his body like suddenly blooming flowers.
A dozen, two dozen.
Forming a spherical barrier of bone spurs.
"Oh?" Kidōmaru vanished again.
The next moment, he appeared ten yards away, a small tear on his sleeve.
"Bone spurs… a power similar to Gashadokuro? Interesting." He looked down at the tear. "Much weaker than that shrine maiden's arrows, but harder to dodge."
Shinji didn't respond.
His right hand had already pulled out another item from his robe.
A dark purple scale, palm-sized, covered in eerie patterns.
The venomous dragon's reverse scale.
This was the trophy he had obtained after slaying the venomous dragon.
The venomous dragon was an ancient serpent that had cultivated for centuries. Its poison could corrode everything, even turning the air toxic.
And this reverse scale was the essence of that poison.
Though the affection system's analysis of these remains was not yet complete, basic usage was already possible.
Shinji poured demonic aura into the scale.
Sizzle—
A dark purple mist surged from the scale, spreading toward Kidōmaru.
Wherever the mist passed, plants withered, earth cracked.
Deadly poison.
Poison that even a materialization-level demon couldn't withstand.
Alone, he certainly couldn't compare to Kidōmaru, couldn't even contend with him. But borrowing external power, he could hold out for a moment.
For a very short time, fight above his level!
But
"Useless." Kidōmaru's voice remained calm.
He simply waved his hand.
A blade-light too fast for the eye to follow flashed.
The poison mist was cut in half, passing around him without touching his body.
"The essence of speed transformation is not making yourself faster," Kidōmaru said as he walked forward slowly, each step slow but oppressive. "It's making everything around you slower."
"In my domain, no matter how fast your poison mist moves, it's just slow motion."
Shinji's frown deepened.
He pulled out a third item.
A dried cat's paw, black as ink, still clinging to a few strands of cold aura.
The cat demon's paw.
The cat demon could control corpses, making them move like puppets.
This paw was the carrier of that power.
Shinji poured demonic aura into the paw.
Hiss—
Cold aura surged from the paw, seeping into the ground.
The surrounding demon corpses, which had been frozen by Kidōmaru's pressure suddenly began to tremble.
One, two, ten.
Those dead low-tier demons rose again under the cat demon's paw's power.
Their eyes were vacant, hollow.
But their bodies moved.
Charging toward Kidōmaru.
"Necromancy?" Kidōmaru's surprise showed again. "You've also taken the cat demon's power?"
Shinji didn't answer.
He simply wielded the thunder horn, the reverse scale, and the cat demon's paw simultaneously.
Three powers erupted at once.
Purple lightning struck from the sky.
Dark purple poison mist spread in all directions.
Dozens of corpse puppets lunged from every side.
Three prongs of attack.
These were the trump cards he had accumulated on his journey, sustaining himself through battle.
From the thunder beast, he gained lightning power.
From the venomous dragon, poison power.
From the cat demon, the power to control the dead.
Though each was only a shallow application, each still reliant on external objects rather than integrated into himself… three powers stacked together were enough to deal with most materialization-level high-tier demon leaders.
But
"This alone is not enough to face me, little demon." Kidōmaru's voice came from all directions at once.
Shinji only saw a blur.
Then, the lightning was shattered.
The poison mist was scattered.
The corpse puppets were cut to pieces.
Everything happened in an instant.
So fast that Shinji had no time to react.
"I repeat, you are not bad." Kidōmaru reappeared before him, the tip of his blade against Shinji's chest. "Your demonic aura is still weak, your transformations still superficial, yet you are already stronger than most demons."
"But—" A cold chill entered his eyes. "Before me, you are still too weak."
Shinji felt a sting in his chest.
That blue-glowing long blade had pierced his skin. Blood flowed down the blade.
Kidōmaru's voice sounded like a verdict: "No matter how many abilities you have, it's only the stacking of quantity."
"While I Have long completed a qualitative transformation."
His speed was too fast.
Too fast for Shinji's bone spurs to grow. Too fast for Kikyō's arrows to aim.
Too fast for any resistance to seem meaningful.
"It's over." Kidōmaru's blade began to press down.
In the distance, Kikyō's bowstring was drawn to its full extent.
She knew she couldn't hit him. At this distance, before Kidōmaru's speed, her arrows would only be a joke.
However, that demon would never dare to take her arrow directly.
All Kikyō needed was to force Kidōmaru back. That would be enough.
She was confident that if she and Shinji worked together, even a great demon could not afford to dismiss them.
Just then.
Shinji suddenly spoke. With a demon's vitality, with his unique Sixth Transformation strength comparable to Seventh, he was still not going to be instantly killed by Kidōmaru.
After all, Kidōmaru's speed was great, comparable to or even surpassing ordinary great demons.
But he had no physical body.
His attacks were not strong. Though not weak either, without stacking multiple strikes, they were still insufficient to instantly kill Shinji, who, though at Sixth Transformation, could contend with Seventh Transformation demons.
This was the price of sacrificing everything, even his body, for absolute speed. And the reason Shinji could still speak.
He said: "You're right."
"Purely in terms of strength, I am indeed no match for you."
"But..." His gaze fell to the ground beneath his feet. "You've forgotten something."
Kidōmaru paused. "What?"
"This land." Shinji said. "In these two days and nights, I have traveled through Imagawa territory and slain the thunder beast."
"I have walked through Hōjō territory and slain Gaikimaru."
"I have walked through the northern mountains and slain the venomous dragon."
"I have walked through the eastern villages and slain the cat demon."
His voice grew softer, yet clearer.
"The demons of the four directions, I have eliminated them one by one."
"The turbid energy and demonic miasma that plagued this land, I have purified them one by one."
"What do you think," He looked up, his crimson eyes meeting Kidōmaru's. "Whose side will this land stand on?"
The land?
Kidōmaru was briefly stunned. The next second, his pupils contracted sharply.
He had wanted to respond to such absurd words, to reply to such nonsense, the land, the unconscious earth, how could it take sides?
Yet,
Those words stuck in his throat, refusing to come out.
Because,
He felt it.
The ground beneath his feet was trembling.
[Kantō Land: Affection +1]
[Current Affection: 1 (Recognition)]
[Evaluation: This land has sensed your purification. It has begun to recognize your existence.]
Shinji looked at the prompt on his panel.
This was his real final move.
Not the thunder horn. Not the reverse scale. Not the cat demon's paw.
But this Kantō land, which he had personally purified.