Chapter 23: The First Bond
The night deepened, and the evening breeze grew colder. With the fall of the last yokai, an unnerving silence descended upon the battlefield.
Kobe Hikaru stood amidst the piles of dismembered corpses, the Muramasa in his hand still weeping droplets of black blood onto the stained earth.
A translucent panel flickered into existence before his eyes.
[Shikon Jewel (Naohi): Affinity +5]
[Current Affinity: 14 (Trust)]
Hikaru blinked. He was stunned for a moment.
'Five points? All at once?' he thought, a flicker of surprise cutting through his usual composure. The jewel had always been so stingy, doling out one, maybe two points at a time. Why the sudden generosity?
[Shikon Jewel (Naohi): Affinity +3]
[Current Affinity: 17]
It rose again.
Hikaru's gaze shifted, landing on the Shikon Jewel hovering before Kikyo's chest. The light emanating from the sacred artifact was in flux. The inky, malevolent energy of Magatsuhi was being actively suppressed by a faint but determined layer of white light. It was like a single drop of milk spreading through a vial of ink; the black and white were starkly, beautifully distinct.
[Shikon Jewel (Naohi): Affinity +4]
[Current Affinity: 21]
[Bond Dialogue (1) Unlocked]
[It is conveying a message to you—]
Hikaru waited, his attention fixed on the panel. The words materialized one by one, slower than he had ever seen them appear before.
["Thank you."]
["No one has helped her for a long time."]
["You are the first."]
'A direct dialogue?' Hikaru mused. The Shikon Jewel wasn't just relaying information; it was actually speaking to him. As expected of a treasure coveted by even the most powerful yokai. It was certainly a great deal more intelligent than Muramasa.
He looked up at Kikyo. The priestess stood before the floating jewel, her hands locked in a mudra. Threads of pure spiritual power coiled from her fingertips, binding the artifact in a cage of light. Her expression was one of solemn concentration. While Hikaru had been cleaning up the stragglers, she had immediately begun the arduous task of suppressing Magatsuhi.
The panel before him continued to display its message.
["She is strong, but she is also just one person."]
["Those who guard the Shikon Jewel are destined for loneliness."]
["This duty cannot be shared. It should not be shared."]
["So... thank you."]
Hikaru offered no reply. He wasn't even sure how he was supposed to respond. Say 'you're welcome' to a jewel? It didn't seem entirely out of the question, given his circumstances...
[Shikon Jewel (Naohi): Affinity +2]
[Current Affinity: 23]
[It is conveying a warning to you—]
["Tonight is not over."]
["Those were merely an appetizer."]
["The real threat has not yet arrived."]
Hikaru's brow furrowed. The real threat? Did the horde of yokai he had just slaughtered not count? The four-armed ape was a demon of the Fifth Transformation, and that mist yokai was at least a Sixth. If they didn't qualify as a threat, then what did?
["Watch out above."]
["Watch out for... me."]
When the last two words pulsed into view, a cold knot formed in Hikaru's stomach.
'Watch out for you? What does that mean?'
But the system panel went blank. The light of the Shikon Jewel also stabilized, the pure white and corrupt black energies locked in a delicate, temporary balance. Hikaru wanted to ask more, but he knew it was useless. This jewel wasn't a chatterbox like his blade, Muramasa, which would spill every thought in its head when it felt talkative but couldn't be coaxed into uttering a single word when it didn't.
"What is it?" Kikyo's voice, soft but clear, broke the silence.
Hikaru dismissed the panel and turned to face her. "Nothing..."
He never finished the word.
An electrifying chill shot up the back of his neck—the primal, instinctual warning of an Oni Samurai sensing mortal danger.
Hikaru's head snapped up.
The moon hung in the sky, fuller and brighter than before, so round it looked as if it might plummet from the heavens. Its pale, ethereal light washed over the shrine grounds, casting everything in a deathly gray pallor.
Then he saw it.
A black shadow was blotting out the stars on the horizon. No, not just one. It was a roiling, churning mass, a living tide of darkness that covered the sky and blotted out the earth, many times larger than the wave of yokai from before.
"Damn," Hikaru cursed under his breath.
[Shikon Jewel (Naohi) indicates—it wants to speak, but it can no longer do so.]
[Magatsuhi is suppressing it.]
The system panel flashed with one final notification before vanishing.
Hikaru risked one last glance at the Shikon Jewel. The pure white light of Naohi was fading at a speed visible to the naked eye. The black energy surged, regaining its dominance, its miasma growing thicker and denser than before, on the verge of solidifying into a physical substance.
"Midnight has arrived," Kikyo stated, her voice unnervingly calm. She seemed to have given up her attempts to suppress Magatsuhi's evil power, recognizing the futility of it. She walked to Hikaru's side, her gaze also fixed on the approaching shadow in the sky.
"The moon is at its zenith, and the yin energy is at its peak," she explained. "At this time, Magatsuhi will always overpower Naohi."
She paused, her grip tightening on her bow.
"What follows... is the true test."
Hikaru's hand closed around the hilt of his blade. The talent granted by Muramasa had already fused with his body, but the cursed sword itself was still an very useful weapon. The sharpness bonus he had gained from nurturing it remained, as did its bloodthirsty nature. It just wouldn't be speaking to him for a while; after an ability fusion, the artifact's own spirituality would enter a weakened state of recovery. The process wasn't long, but it wouldn't be quick, either.
"They're here," Kikyo said, drawing back her bowstring until it creaked.
The shadow had arrived, swarming directly above the shrine. It wasn't a single demon.
It was... birds?
No. Hikaru narrowed his eyes, his demonic senses piercing the gloom. Those things had wings, but they were no birds.
They were bats.
Thousands upon thousands of them, each the size of a human head. Their eyes glowed with a sickly green light, and their mouths gaped open to reveal a pair of glistening fangs. A swarm of blood-sucking bats. Individually, they weren't strong, but their sheer numbers were overwhelming.
And they were not the main course.
The main course was behind them.
Hikaru saw it now. Trailing at the very back of the swarm was a much larger shadow. Its size... it was at least three zhang tall, hanging in the air like a small, jagged hill.
"What is that?" Hikaru asked, his voice low.
Kikyo did not answer. She simply released the bowstring.
A Sacred Arrow streaked into the sky, exploding in a brilliant flash. It burst into countless beams of white light, incinerating the dozen or so bats at the vanguard into ash.
But it was a mere drop in the ocean.
More bats screeched and dove, their numbers seemingly endless.
Hikaru took a deep, steadying breath. The Yao Qi within his body began to boil. His blood surged through his veins, the sound of its frantic flow like a rushing river. This was the power of his [Blood Transformation]. His blood was no longer ordinary.
"Come on," he said, his voice a low growl.
He raised his left hand, palm open to the sky. A single drop of crimson blood condensed, shimmering in the pale moonlight.
Then, it exploded.
The drop atomized into a sky-filling mist of blood that drifted outwards, shrouding the entire shrine in a thin, red veil. Through this mist, Hikaru could perceive everything. The position, speed, and flight path of every single bat were laid bare to him.
This was [Resonance with Blood].
The first bat shrieked as it dove for his face.
Hikaru held his blade horizontally. A flash of steel, and the bat was cleaved neatly in two.
The second, the third, the fourth...
Blade light flickered through the night. Corpses fell like black rain.
But there were too many. He killed ten, and a hundred remained. He killed a hundred, and a thousand took their place.
All the while, the largest shadow drew closer and closer.
Hikaru finally saw its true form clearly.
That was not a bat.
It was a giant... flying squirrel?
No.
That was...
"Kamaitachi," Kikyo breathed, her voice tight with grim recognition.
It was one of the famed, true 'demons' of this land.
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