Chapter 12: The Oni Samurai with an Arrow to the Knee
Two blades collided in mid-air, the shriek of tortured metal echoing through the blood-soaked clearing.
Sparks erupted in a violent shower.
One blade was a finely crafted Muramasa, a mass-produced but still respectable weapon. The other was a pitted, rust-covered tachi that looked as if it had been pulled from a forgotten grave. Yet when the two met, it was Kobe Hikaru, wielder of the Muramasa, who was sent staggering back three full steps, his palms screaming with a paralyzing numbness.
The disparity in power was simply too vast.
The Six Transformations of an Oni Samurai were no mere boast; each stage represented a qualitative leap in a demon's fundamental attributes. It was clear that at least two of the Hannya-masked samurai's transformations were dedicated to pure strength. Otherwise, Hikaru, who possessed the 'Archer Transformation' and its own significant boost to arm strength, would never have been so utterly unable to hold his ground.
In a battle between demons of the same kind, the gulf created by even a single transformation was a world of difference.
"Is this all you have?" a voice, distorted and laced with obvious mockery, filtered from behind the Hannya mask. "To think you dared to sneak into this place... you truly have a death wish."
The masked demon swung its blade again.
This strike was faster, heavier, and carried an even greater weight of killing intent than the last. Hikaru barely managed to raise his Muramasa for a desperate parry, the impact jarring his arms so violently they felt on the verge of being torn from their sockets.
His body was thrown backward, his feet carving deep furrows into the dirt as he skidded several meters before regaining his balance.
The Hannya-masked samurai let out a cold, grating laugh, and its figure abruptly vanished.
So fast!
This wasn't just pure speed; it was the explosive propulsion generated by an instantaneous burst of leg muscle. This demon clearly had a transformation dedicated to its legs as well.
Hikaru's pupils constricted. His [Sharp Eye Transformation], a gift from a dagger he'd raised to maximum favorability, frantically tracked the phantom afterimages slicing through the air.
'The left!' he thought, instinctively raising his blade to block the anticipated trajectory.
But in the next second, something impossible happened.
With a sickening crack, the Hannya's sword-swinging wrist joint audibly snapped out of place. Instead of falling limp, the arm visibly stretched, cartilage and bone surging forward with unnatural elasticity. The limb, once of normal length, grew by three feet in the blink of an eye.
Cartilage extension.
This grotesque elongation caused its attack range to instantly shatter Hikaru's predictions. The rusty longsword bypassed the defensive line of the Muramasa, lashing toward Hikaru's ribs like a venomous snake striking from an unseen coil.
"Shit!"
Hikaru gritted his teeth and threw himself backward, activating his [Spear-Waist Transformation]. His upper body folded at an angle absolutely impossible for a human, his spine bending with the uncanny resilience of a flexible spear shaft.
Sshhh—!
The rusty blade grazed his breastplate. The moment the seemingly hard, tattered armor made contact with the turbid energy coating the blade, it hissed and smoked as if doused in concentrated acid, rapidly rotting and softening into useless slag.
A piercing, searing pain shot through his chest.
Hikaru rolled away in a desperate, undignified scramble, coming to a stop on one knee. A scorched, blackened scar now marred his chest, the wound sizzling faintly.
[Demon Blade Muramasa: Mood 'Terrified.'It says there's a poisonous aura on that rusty blade that will dull its edge! It doesn't want to touch that thing!]'Shut up,'Hikaru shot back internally, spitting a mouthful of bloody saliva onto the ground.'I don't want to touch it either.'
The blood that splattered the dirt wasn't the vibrant red of humans, but a murky, grayish-black—the ichor of a demon. He forced his breathing to steady, his mind racing as he organized the information he had gathered from the brief, brutal exchange.
At least two transformations in the arms, granting a surge of raw strength.
One transformation in the legs, providing incredible explosive speed.
A poison transformation, infusing both its body and blood with a corrosive touch.
A bone transformation that could extend its limbs, making its attack range terrifyingly unpredictable.
And its eyes… a faint, predatory light occasionally flashed within those ashen pupils. That was clearly another transformation.
Six Transformations.
It was an almost perfect counter to his own five. What made the situation even more precarious was the fact that Kikyo couldn't spare an ounce of her attention for him.
From the direction of the distant barrier, three thunderous booms echoed in succession. The One-Horned Oni's spiked club, the giant python's venomous mist, and the Three-Eyed Crow's demonic light all slammed against the sacred shield at once, causing fresh cracks to spiderweb across its surface.
Kikyo was pouring everything she had into maintaining it. Her spiritual power was still abundant, but her physical stamina was being consumed at an alarming rate. Repairing the barrier, purifying lesser demons with her arrows, and providing cover for Hikaru—fighting on three fronts was already pushing her to her absolute limit. The frenzied, coordinated assault from three high-level demons made it impossible for her to intervene here.
Hikaru knew this.
He didn't expect Kikyo's support. In this fight, at least, he could only rely on himself.
"Interesting," the Hannya-masked samurai mused, raising its rusty blade as a thick, cloying Yao Qi erupted from its surface. "It has been a long time since I have encountered one of my own kind. Let me see just how hard your bones are."
It charged.
Hikaru met the charge.
Not because he was confident he could win, but because he had no other choice. If he retreated, the Hannya would turn its attention to the barrier. If four high-level demons attacked in unison, the sacred shield would shatter instantly.
He had to pin this one down. Even if it was only for fifteen minutes. He had to buy time for Kikyo.
Clang—!
The two blades met again. Hikaru was thrown back five steps this time, grayish-black blood leaking from the corner of his mouth. But he dug his heels in, stabilized his stance, and raised the Muramasa once more.
The Hannya pursued, its rusty blade sweeping in a wide, horizontal arc.
Hikaru didn't block. He knew that meeting the attack head-on would only exhaust his demonic power faster.
[Ghost Step].
His figure flickered, vanishing from his spot and reappearing at the enemy's right rear. The tip of his Muramasa lunged forward, aimed squarely at the demon's lower back.
"Tricks," the Hannya grunted, not even bothering to look back. It simply slapped its left hand backward, the arm extending again like a fleshy whip, lashing straight for Hikaru's face.
Hikaru snapped his head back, his [Spear-Waist Transformation] allowing his upper body to bend at that same incredible angle. The whip-like strike whistled past his nose, but his own thrust had also missed its mark.
The two pulled apart, facing each other once again.
Hikaru panted—though an Oni Samurai had no need to breathe, the rapid consumption of his demonic power made his body instinctively perform the action. In the brief lull, his gaze pierced through the blood mist drifting over the battlefield, and he began to carefully observe every detail of the Hannya-masked samurai.
The effect of his [Resonance with Blood] was still active. Every drop of ichor scattered on the ground or floating in the air served as his eyes, granting him a multi-angled, three-hundred-and-sixty-degree view of his opponent.
Every rhythm of the Hannya's breathing—or rather, the intake and expulsion of Yao Qi that followed a similar pattern—every minute muscle contraction, and every subtle shift in its center of gravity was laid bare before him.
Its left knee. There was an old injury there. The movement was slightly stiffer, less fluid than the rest of its body. It was an almost imperceptible flaw, one that would have been impossible to discover without observing from multiple angles simultaneously through the blood mist.
But Hikaru had discovered it.
It made sense. Oni Samurai were demons formed from the lingering obsessions of powerful warriors, clinging to their armor or corpses after death. Most of them carried 'wounds'—the very injuries that had killed them in their mortal lives.
Hikaru's eyes narrowed.
There was a way.
But simply knowing the weakness wasn't enough. With his current strength, even if he targeted it, delivering a decisive blow in one strike would be nearly impossible. This demon was at the Six Transformation stage. While it hadn't yet achieved a Qualitative Transformation, it stood at the very peak of Physical Transformation. Its defensive power was not to be underestimated.
He needed an opportunity. An opportunity to break the stalemate.
And that opportunity—
Buzz—
The Shikon Jewel fragment nestled in his chest suddenly vibrated with a faint warmth.
[Shikon Jewel: Naohi has conveyed a message to you: 'She is about to be free.']
Naohi was actually reminding him? And...
Hikaru's heart stirred. Kikyo?
His gaze flickered past the Hannya's shoulder, catching a quick glimpse of the situation at the barrier. The three high-level demons—the One-Horned Oni, the Giant Python, and the Three-Eyed Crow—were still battering the shield with everything they had.
But the cracks on the barrier had already been repaired.
Kikyo stood upon the stone steps, her left hand maintaining the hand seal that sustained the barrier. Her right hand, however… was already gripping her longbow.
She was waiting.
Waiting for the right moment. Waiting for him to create that moment.
"Understood."
Hikaru took a deep breath—or rather, his demonic power took a deep, resonant pull of the ambient energy.
He knew what he had to do.
He didn't need to win this fight alone. He just needed to create an opening. He needed to expose the Hannya-masked samurai's weakness.
Expose it to the priestess who was about to be free. Expose it so that even while multitasking, Kikyo could land a single, decisive arrow.
And then—he would deliver the final blow, and she would purify the demon.
All in one go.
That would be enough.
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