Hearing Kōbe Hikaru's words, Kikyō paused in what she was doing — she had just finished preparing the last batch of medicinal herbs — and turned her head to look at him.
"Information?"
"Mm."
Kōbe Hikaru briefly relayed the news he had just received from Sakagami Ketsura.
The forces of Kyoto. Four high-level yōkai. A four-sided encirclement.
And that name — Kibōmaru.
Kikyō's brow drew together.
"Kibōmaru…"
She repeated the name, a measure of gravity in her tone.
"You know of him?"
"I've heard the name."
Kikyō stood up, wiped the bloodstains from her hands, and said: "I just never expected that such an ancient being could still be alive."
Kōbe Hikaru nodded — that matched what he knew well enough.
"As for those four vanguard yōkai chieftains — do you have any thoughts?"
He asked.
Kikyō was silent for a moment.
She looked about the village.
The barrier had already shattered; only residual spiritual power still drifted through the air.
Some of the villagers were still tending the wounded, others were clearing the wreckage, and still others simply sat on the ground in a daze, unable to recover themselves from the scene before their eyes.
"If the information is true…"
Kikyō spoke: "Pure defence will not hold for long."
"The ones tonight were only ordinary yōkai. If those four vanguards step in themselves…"
She did not go on.
Kōbe Hikaru understood her meaning.
Four high-level yōkai — and high-level by Sakagami Ketsura's own reckoning, no less.
By his own classification, every one of them would be, at minimum, of the Qualitative tier.
After all, Sakagami Ketsura herself was already a yōkai who had completed six mutations — and although her true form was that of an implement, which made her less than formidable among yōkai of her own kind and rank, anything she would call "high-level" must necessarily exceed her own yōkai-aura specification.
By comparison, while Kōbe Hikaru was now stronger than Sakagami Ketsura, he had still only reached the perfection of the sixth mutation — he had not yet broken through into the Qualitative. Even if he could rival an ordinary seventh-mutation yōkai, that was merely a comparison, not an actual setting of foot upon that ground.
As for Kikyō, although she was strong — her spiritual power bound to heaven and earth, almost without end — her physical stamina was finite.
After all, she was human.
For a mage, the human body had always been the greatest weakness. Once caught in an ambush or a converging attack, it was all too easy to be struck where it hurt — the margin for error was vanishingly small.
If four Qualitative-tier yōkai attacked at the same time, they might block it, might even drive them off — but they could not necessarily save the village.
"So."
Kōbe Hikaru spoke up; he had already worked out how to respond. "What we should do is take the initiative and strike first."
Kikyō looked at him.
"You mean…"
"Rather than wait for them to come, we go to them."
Kōbe Hikaru's voice was very calm. "This so-called Kibōmaru is trying to surround us from four directions — but turn it the other way round, and those yōkai spread across four directions are each effectively isolated, are they not?"
"Rather than wait for them to come, we strike preemptively and deal with them one by one."
"Defeat them in detail."
This truly was Kōbe Hikaru's thinking.
It was, moreover, his consistent style.
Not to meet the blow passively, but to strike first!
Kikyō did not answer immediately; she was weighing the feasibility of the proposal.
"The risk is great."
She said: "If we leave, what becomes of the village?"
"We don't both have to leave."
Kōbe Hikaru shook his head. "You stay. I'll go."
"What?"
"Your spiritual power is the village's greatest safeguard."
Kōbe Hikaru explained: "So long as you are here, the ordinary yōkai will not dare to attack lightly."
"And besides — you are, after all, human. Even with all the arts you have mastered, in mobility you still cannot quite match me, a yōkai… If I go out alone, the target is small, and movement is easy."
"I will locate the four vanguards and deal with them one at a time — all you need to do is provide long-range support when it becomes necessary, Kikyō."
Kikyō frowned.
"You are going alone to take on yōkai you yourself describe as Qualitative-tier — yōkai who have completed at least seven mutations?"
"Not alone."
Kōbe Hikaru drew the red comb from his robes and let a smile show. "There's this one as well — she has the information, and that is enough."
"Who said I'd help you!"
Sakagami Ketsura's voice came drifting out of the comb: "I never said I was going off to die with you!"
Kōbe Hikaru ignored her protest.
"She should know the approximate locations of the four vanguards."
He said to Kikyō: "With her to lead the way, we can save a great deal of time."
Kikyō looked at the comb, then looked at Kōbe Hikaru.
She was silent for a while.
"You're certain?"
"Certain."
Kōbe Hikaru nodded.
"And besides…"
He paused. "Those four vanguards will not necessarily all be hiding away in the mountains."
"What do you mean?"
"Sakagami Ketsura said that the Kyoto side wants to manufacture resentment."
Kōbe Hikaru's eyes narrowed.
"And where does resentment come from?"
"War. Slaughter. And — the fear within human cities."
Kikyō's expression changed.
She understood Kōbe Hikaru's meaning.
Those four vanguards might not merely be encircling Kaede Village.
They might also be doing other things.
Such as — attacking human cities.
Manufacturing more resentment.
"At this juncture, with the two domains at war, that is indeed not impossible." Kikyō affirmed it, her brows drawn tightly together.
If that was truly the case, they did indeed need to seize the initiative — they could not afford to delay.
But Kōbe Hikaru spoke again.
"In any case, I'll first go and scout the nearest direction."
He said: "If I find a vanguard's trail, I'll deal with them."
"And if I find nothing… at the very least I can confirm the situation."
Kikyō was silent for a moment.
In the end, she nodded.
"Be careful."
That was all she said — and then, one earnest sentence besides: "I'll be waiting for you to come back."
Kōbe Hikaru smiled, and his expression grew more and more animated — more like a human's.
"Don't worry."
"I'll come back."
[Shikon Jewel — Naohi: Affinity +1]
[Current Affinity: 57 (Trust)]
[It has conveyed a message to you: she is worried about you.]
[Please, also — come back safe.]
Kōbe Hikaru glanced at the panel.
Then he turned, and vanished into the night.
…
At that same moment.
West of Musashi Province, in Suruga Province.
The domain of the Imagawa clan.
The night sky ought to have been pitch black, but at this moment it was torn apart by a dazzling streak of light.
Lightning.
KA-BOOM —
A tremendous peal of thunder burst across the heavens.
A bolt of purple lightning struck down, smiting a great tree outside the castle walls.
That ancient tree, which had stood for several hundred years, was reduced to charcoal in a single instant, flames roaring up into the sky.
"Again…"
Atop the castle walls, the soldiers on night watch exchanged glances.
This was already the third day in a row.
Three days earlier, after the Band of Seven who had broken into the battlefield had been cut down — four slain, three driven off — the Imagawa clan had once again gained the upper hand in their war against the Hōjō clan. But here at the main headquarters, strange disturbances had also begun to occur with troubling frequency.
Every night, lightning would come falling from the heavens.
And every time, it would bring losses of no small measure.
On the first day, it was the Shrine outside the castle.
On the second day, it was the armoury within the castle.
On the third day, it was the honmaru, the main keep — and one corner of the tenshukaku.
After every strike of lightning, someone would go missing.
Sometimes one, sometimes two or three… but without exception, those who went missing never came back.
"Just what is this thing…"
One soldier's voice was trembling: "It couldn't be… a yōkai, could it?"
No one answered.
Because everyone, in his own heart, knew.
This was indeed no ordinary phenomenon of the heavens.
At the main castle, atop the tenshukaku.
Within the honmaru-goten.
Imagawa Yoshimoto rose up from the tatami.
Her face was somewhat pale, fine beads of sweat standing on her brow.
"That dream again…"
She said in a low voice.
In the dream, she had seen a shadow.
A shadow standing in the midst of the lightning.
That shadow held a long blade in hand, dancing through the bolts.
Blade-light and lightning-light wove together, as though it were cutting at something.
She could not make out that shadow's face.
She could only see —
Long, pallid hair, and a pair of crimson eyes.
"My lord."
The voice of a handmaid came from beyond the door: "There's lightning again…"
Imagawa Yoshimoto rubbed her temples.
"I know."
She rose to her feet and walked to the window.
Beyond the window, another bolt of lightning fell, illuminating the entire castle.
Imagawa Yoshimoto held her breath — and then made a decision.
"Pass down the order."
She spoke.
"Right now, this very moment — summon every one of the mages. I want them to tell me, at once, what they have achieved!"
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