From the very beginning, Shinji knew he couldn't beat Kidōmaru.
A Sixth Transformation demon against an old demon infinitely close to etherealization, no matter how many abilities he fused, it was like an ant trying to shake a tree.
So he never planned to fight head-on.
He chose another path.
A path that started from the Imagawa main castle, passed through Hōjō territory, and cut across the northern mountains and eastern villages.
Along that path, he killed the thunder beast, killed Gaikimaru, killed the venomous dragon, killed the cat demon.
The blood of four materialization-level demons stained this land.
But more importantly
His blood mist also stained this land.
Everywhere he passed, he left traces of his bone and blood.
Those traces seeped into the soil, merged into the mountains and stones, creating a connection with this land, "touching" it, "taking" from it.
Touching and taking, these were the keys to his strategy.
From beginning to end, he wasn't just slaying demons.
He was also trying to claim this land.
Just like claiming Muramasa, claiming the Shikon Jewel, claiming Hiraikotsu.
The land was also a kind of "object."
It had no consciousness, no soul.
But it had memory.
It remembered who spilled blood upon it, who left footprints upon it.
It remembered who killed the demons that plagued it, who purified the turbid energy that suffused its skies.
So when Shinji traveled the four directions and eliminated all the demonic miasma,
This land began to take notice of him.
[Kantō Land: Affection +1]
[Current Affection: 1 (Recognition)]
This number seemed small.
But its meaning was immense.
"The power of the earth…" Kidōmaru murmured the words, his voice full of shock.
He seemed to finally understand why this Sixth Transformation demon warrior had dared to strike out alone.
Why, after killing the four vanguards, he had rushed back without a pause.
He wasn't reckless.
He had been prepared all along.
Prepared with a scheme that used the entire Kantō land as its chessboard.
"You were planning this… from the start?" Kidōmaru's voice was strained.
Shinji's voice came from beneath his crimson demon mask, perfectly matter-of-fact: "I just did it along the way."
"Slaying demons was always my goal."
"As for whether this land would side with me…" He looked up, his crimson eyes meeting Kidōmaru's. "That was just a bonus."
He couldn't have known Kidōmaru's purpose was to have those four demons die.
But since he knew about the Kyoto demons behind those four, since he knew about the demon before him, Kidōmaru's existence, Shinji naturally wouldn't come unprepared.
And this was his preparation.
This was the retreat he had left for himself!
Kidōmaru's expression darkened to its extreme.
He didn't believe it.
Didn't believe a minor demon could have such means.
Didn't believe a demon warrior who had only emerged a few months ago could have such ability.
But the evidence was before his eyes.
The ground beneath his feet was rejecting him.
The air around him was growing heavy.
The resentment shrouding the entire region, the resentment coalesced from the deaths of the four vanguards, which should have been his to use, was being slowly dispersed by an even more powerful force
"Impossible…" His voice carried a note of urgency. "How can you resist my domain!"
He raised his blue-glowing long blade. Demonic aura surged.
"Inherent Barrier, Rajōmon!"
Black mist erupted from his body, manifesting as phantom gates.
This was the true manifestation of his domain. A demonic power called "Inherent Barrier."
Its form was modeled after the Rajōmon gate of old Kyoto, Heian-kyō, but manifested as an absolute domain centered on high-speed slashing, built upon the transformation of speed.
Within this domain, his speed could stack infinitely, until even time itself could not keep up with his blade.
To some extent, in the realm of speed, Kidōmaru had truly achieved a level beyond even ordinary great demons.
"Sword Dance, Cherry Blossoms!"
As he spoke, he vanished.
The next moment, countless blades of light struck at Shinji from all directions simultaneously.
Those blade-lights were as fast as cherry blossom petals blown by the wind, as dense as falling snow.
This was the supreme speed that Kidōmaru could only display by relying on his inherent barrier surpassing wind, surpassing sound, even able to chase lightning. Most demons probably couldn't last even an instant.
Even high-tier demons at the Sixth, Seventh, or Eighth Transformation would be cut to pieces.
But
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Metal clashed. Sparks flew.
Shinji's Muramasa blocked some of those blade-lights.
Not all. Just a portion.
The remaining blade-lights struck his bone armor, struck his blood-mist shield.
Bone armor shattered. Blood mist scattered.
But he did not fall.
Because the ground beneath him was holding him up.
Kidōmaru's expression finally shifted.
He saw it.
Those shattered pieces of bone armor, that scattered blood mist, they were re-coalescing at a visible rate.
Not by Shinji's own power.
The land was replenishing him.
Those traces of bone and blood that had seeped into the soil, those remnants of demonic aura left among the rocks, were flowing back into Shinji's body.
"If that's the case…" Kidōmaru's voice turned icy.
He raised his blade again.
"Then I'll cut the land itself!"
"Sword Dance, Plum Branch!"
A stronger technique. A stronger demonic aura. Faster blade-lights came rushing.
This time, not only Shinji, but also the ground beneath him.
Blades cut into the earth, carving deep trenches.
"Sword Dance, Void!"
Speed surged again.
Blade-lights so fast they split the air itself, creating patches of vacuum.
Where those vacuum patches passed, all matter was annihilated.
Plants turned to dust. Rocks turned to ash. Even the ground beneath Shinji's feet began to collapse.
"You think this can resist me?" Kidōmaru's voice came as if from the underworld.
"This technique of mine is ten times stronger than 'Cherry Blossoms'!"
"Before this speed, the land's recognition, the earth's support—"
"All futile!"
Shinji was pushed back ten steps.
The bone armor shattered again. Blood gushed from the wounds, this was Kidōmaru's Twelfth Transformation. Speed transformed to its utmost.
But Shinji did not fall.
He just looked up at the figure dancing wildly in the void.
Then
He smiled.
"You're right," he said.
"Relying solely on this land's recognition cannot stop you."
"But," He raised his left hand.
The purple light from the thunder horn surged.
At the same time, his right hand pulled out the reverse scale and the cat demon's paw from his robe.
All three demonic powers were simultaneously channeled into the ground beneath him. "I didn't just make this land recognize me."
"I made it... become my weapon!"
Boom—!
Lightning burst from the ground.
Not falling from the sky.
Rising from the earth.
Poison mist spread from the soil, forming a dark purple ocean.
The dead emerged from the dirt. Ten times, a hundred times more than before.
These were the demons that had died on this land, the monsters Shinji had slain along his path.
Their remains were buried in the soil. Their resentment had not yet dissipated.
But now, those remains and resentment were all mobilized by this land that recognized Shinji.
Becoming his soldiers.
Becoming his blades.
Kidōmaru's speed finally slowed.
Not because he had grown weaker.
But because there were too many things to dodge.
Lightning, Poison mist, Corpse puppets, and the bone spurs constantly emerging from the ground.
Those bone spurs were not grown from Shinji.
They were grown by the land itself, guided by Shinji's demonic aura, using the buried demon remains.
The entire battlefield was attacking him.
The entire land was his enemy.
"Damn it—" Kidōmaru roared. His blade-light grew even more frantic.
"Sword Dance, Immeasurable!"
His strongest technique.
Speed immeasurably greater than "Void."
Blade-lights turned into countless afterimages, cutting all obstacles into nothing.
Lightning was shattered.
Poison mist was scattered.
Corpse puppets were cut to dust.
Even the bone spurs emerging from the ground were sliced to pieces.
But those pieces re-coalesced again.
Once, twice, ten times, a hundred times.
As long as this land still recognized Shinji, as long as Shinji stood on this land,
Those attacks would never cease.
A single point of affection. For an ordinary person, it would be just a glance at a stranger.
But for the land itself, that glance was the weight of a thousand years, ten thousand years!
Kidōmaru finally realized that he could not kill Shinji.
Not because Shinji was stronger than him.
But because on this land, Shinji might die, but he would never be defeated.
"Damn it!" Kidōmaru's speed finally slowed.
The consumption was too great.
Sword Dance Immeasurable required an immense amount of demonic aura to sustain. Even for an old demon like him, nearing the level of a great demon, he couldn't maintain it for long.
And Shinji?
He stood there, his bone armor constantly shattering and regenerating, his blood constantly flowing out and being reabsorbed and returned by the land.
He was nearly consuming nothing.
Though the gap between them was still immense, though their hard strength was still worlds apart,
As long as he stood here, Kidōmaru could not harm him.
Could not break his defense!
"Now"
Another voice came from the distance.
Kikyō.
The shrine maiden in white and red had somehow drawn her longbow, a blinding white light gathered at the arrow's tip.
She had been waiting for this moment.
Waiting for Kidōmaru's speed to slow.
Waiting for an opportunity for her arrow to hit.
"My turn!"
No need for explanation, no need for many words. The coordination between Kikyō and Shinji had long surpassed verbal understanding.
The next second.
The purifying arrow turned into a white rainbow, aimed directly at Kidōmaru's chest.
This instant.
Kidōmaru wanted to dodge.
But his speed was no longer enough.
More importantly, at almost the same moment, Shinji's bone spurs emerged from the ground beneath him, firmly pinning his legs.
Kidōmaru swung his blade to cut the spurs.
But that instant of delay was enough.
Boom!
The purifying arrow struck his left shoulder.
White light exploded. Spiritual energy surged. Even with his immense speed, Kidōmaru's entire left arm was grazed by that arrow, then reduced to charcoal.
He screamed.
The first time in centuries.
Someone had severely wounded him.