Ghostly aura was a branch of demonic energy.
There were many types of impure energy in the world.
There was beast energy formed after beasts absorbed it, cold and savage. There was wood energy formed after plants absorbed it, heavy and oppressive. There was also tool energy formed after tools absorbed it, sharp and refined, carrying lingering obsession.
And ghostly aura was a special existence formed by the combination of the resentment of the dead and demonic energy.
It had both the murkiness of demonic energy and the coldness of the undead, while also carrying the lingering obsession and will of humans.
This type of aura was very rare among yokai.
Because most of the resentment of the dead was too weak to fuse with demonic energy. It only dissipated between heaven and earth.
Only those warriors with high martial skills in life and extremely deep obsession after death could possibly become demon warriors.
And Shinji's ghostly aura was even more special.
As mentioned before,
Ordinary yokai's changes, even demon warriors, were achieved by absorbing the demonic energy of heaven and earth.
And this so-called demonic energy was essentially a mixture of the resentment of countless living beings, countless decayed auras, countless filthy factors. It was the sinking other side, opposite to the spiritual power naturally generated by heaven and earth.
Even yokai themselves could not fully control such impure energy with ease.
It was like kneading dough with muddy water. The dough made always carried impurities.
But Shinji was different.
His every change was achieved by pursuing weapons, integrating the weapon's abilities into himself.
Although those weapons were also tainted with demonic energy, after being transformed by the affection system, they became much more pure.
It was like kneading dough with distilled water. Clean, tight, no impurities.
So,
At this moment, when Shinji erupted with full force, the ghostly aura surging from his body was actually more concentrated than the Quality Transformation-level demonic energy of the Kamaitachi.
Even more solid.
Even more sharp.
At this moment.
Although the quantity of his demonic energy, his ghostly aura, was far less than that of the Kamaitachi before him, he could even, by concentrating it, break through the binding and suppression of the Kamaitachi's wind!
"Awww!"
The Kamaitachi let out a confused cry.
It felt the pressure of that ghostly aura, a feeling it had never experienced before.
A low-tier yokai could actually make it feel threatened?
Impossible.
Absolutely impossible.
In the Kamaitachi's empty eye sockets, the airflow began to accelerate and spin.
It was no longer probing.
"In that case..."
Its voice was like a howling gale.
"Then let me see where your limit is."
The Kamaitachi opened its mouth, greyish-white airflow spraying from deep within its throat.
It wasn't like wind, but more like condensed to the extreme blade edges.
Countless wind blades, fine as hair, woven into a dense net, descending toward Shinji.
This was also the trait displayed by a 'Quality Transformation' level high-tier yokai.
The extreme compression of the mass of wind!
Where they passed, even hard rock would be cut to powder.
Shinji's pupils contracted.
He could see those wind blades.
Through the blood mist dispersed in the air by [Blood Resonance], he could clearly see the trajectory of every wind blade.
But seeing didn't mean he could dodge.
Those wind blades were too dense.
So dense there were almost no gaps.
He raised his blade to block.
Ghostly aura erupted, condensing into a black shield on the blade.
clang clang clang clang—
The sound of metal impact became a continuous stream.
Those wind blades constantly struck the shield, each strike making it thinner by a fraction.
Shinji's feet continuously retreated.
The bricks shattered, leaving two deep gouges.
But he still blocked.
In the Kamaitachi's eye sockets, the airflow spun faster.
"Interesting."
It said.
Then, its body began to change.
That three-story-tall body shrank.
But Shinji knew it wasn't really shrinking.
It was condensing, the core ability of a Quality Transformation yokai, density control.
Compressing originally scattered mass into a smaller volume.
The volume got smaller, but the weight didn't change.
The speed would be faster, and the power, even stronger!
The attacks would be sharper.
This was the terrifying thing about a Quality Transformation yokai.
They could freely change their form, switching between speed and power at will.
The Kamaitachi's body shrank from three stories to one story.
Then... it disappeared.
Not invisibility, just pure movement speed too fast.
Too fast for the naked eye to capture.
Shinji's [Keen Eye Change] operated madly, cooperating with [Blood Change], doing everything possible to capture the afterimages in the air.
Left!
He swept his blade to block.
"Clang——"
The huge force came, and his body flew to the right, slamming into a pillar.
Before he could steady himself, the sound of something cutting through the air came from behind.
He lunged forward, narrowly dodging that strike.
The pillar behind him was severed in two.
Too fast.
Even if he could see it, he couldn't react in time.
Let alone the fact that this Kamaitachi seemed to be still hiding its strength.
The gap between Quality Transformation and Body Transformation, as expected, wasn't so easily made up.
Even if his ghostly aura was more pure, he was only at the completion of Body Transformation.
The Kamaitachi's attacks got faster and faster, and Shinji could no longer completely block them.
A wind blade grazed his arm, leaving a wound deep enough to see bone.
Another grazed his thigh, blood spraying.
Luckily.
[Bloodthirsty Immortality] began to take effect, the wound slowly healing.
Even if the healing speed couldn't keep up with the speed of injury.
He could still hold on!
Shinji was forced into a corner.
Behind him was Kikyō, fully focused on suppressing the Corrupted Spirit.
He couldn't retreat, and couldn't retreat.
"Is this your limit?"
A hint of mockery crept into the Kamaitachi's voice. "I thought you could bring me more surprises, kid!"
Its body condensed again, but had shrunk from one story to half a story.
This meant its next strike would double in both speed and power again.
Shinji probably couldn't block it.
"Forget it."
The Kamaitachi said. "Interesting as you were, it's time to end this."
"That bead..."
Its gaze passed over Shinji, falling on the Shikon Jewel floating in mid-air, covered in layers of sealing by Kikyō.
"I'll take it."
Rumble!
Before the gale even rose, the released aftermath alone made the entire shrine, even the ground, begin to shake.
Shinji knew he couldn't block it.
But he didn't dodge.
He just opened his mouth.
"Old locust tree."
He called out.
"Big boulder."
"Well."
"Hut."
"Hoe."
He was calling out those names.
The names of the things he had 'visited' every day over the past few days.
The Kamaitachi was momentarily stunned.
Had this little yokai gone mad?
Muttering about this nonsense right before its death?
But the next moment it knew it was wrong.
Dead wrong.
Because those things that were called…
Actually, they responded!
The ground began to shake.
That two-hundred-year-old locust tree at the village entrance, its shadow swaying, actually began to move against the wind, blocking the flow of the wind.
That large boulder that Shinji talked to every day, actually rolled on its own, blocking the Kamaitachi's charge path.
A huge column of water sprayed from the well.
Wood from the abandoned hut flew up, shooting in all directions like hidden weapons.
Even that discarded hoe shakily stood up.
The wind was layer by layer reduced.
The Kamaitachi's speed was forced to slow.
It dodged left and right, avoiding those sudden 'enemies'.
But there were too many of these things.
And they came from all directions.
"This is…"
For the first time, shock appeared in the Kamaitachi's voice.
An even stronger reaction than when it saw his special concentrated ghostly aura earlier!
"What's going on!?"
It looked at Shinji.
Unable to understand, impossible to comprehend.
That blood-soaked demon warrior stood there, the corner of his mouth curving into a slight smile.
He looked at the prompt on the system panel before him madly jumping, and suddenly laughed.
[Old Locust Tree: Affection 15, it heard your call, it is willing to help you.]
[Large Boulder: Affection 12, it heard your call, although a bit strenuous, it still moved.]
[Well: Affection 18, it heard your call, it is very happy to be able to help.]
[Abandoned Hut: Affection 12, it heard your call, it is trying its best.]
[Hoe: Affection 9, it heard your call, it is working hard.]
Shinji looked at these prompts, and truly couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Yes.
These were the results of him going every day over the past few days to talk to those flowers, grass, trees, stones, and wells.
These were actually his preparations for tonight.
At this moment, this night,
He wasn't the only one who had prepared.
He had known from the Righteous Spirit three days ago about Kikyō's plan for tonight, and he had long planned to participate.
Naturally, he would prepare in advance!