Chapter 28: Spirit Vision
The kamaitachi's shriek still tore through the night air, a ragged, piercing sound of agony. It stumbled back, blood gushing from the ruined socket where its eye had been, staining its grayish-white fur a dark, glistening crimson.
Hikaru did not pursue.
It wasn't that he didn't want to, but that he couldn't. That single, desperate strike had consumed nearly every last scrap of his strength. While his [Bloodthirsty Madness] skill came with no debilitating side effects, the cost was still immense; a deep weakness seeped into his limbs, and his vision swam with a disorienting blur.
"Damn you..." the kamaitachi's voice rasped, thick with a venomous cocktail of resentment and hatred.
It fixed its remaining eye on Hikaru, the orb glowing from within its socket with an eerie, predatory green light—the feral glare unique to a demon beast cornered and driven to madness.
Hikaru's hand tightened on the hilt of his blade, his knuckles white as he forced his trembling body to remain upright. He knew what was coming. A wounded beast was the most dangerous of all, and this was no mere beast. It was a high-level yokai, a creature that had reached the Seventh Stage of Qualitative Transformation. It would undoubtedly unleash a final, frenzied counterattack.
"You..." The kamaitachi's maw gaped open, and a vortex of turbulent air began to condense deep within its throat. Even with its charge interrupted and its organs savaged, it was still a being of a higher order. It still possessed more than enough power to crush a yokai who had only just reached the Physical Transformation stage.
Hikaru took a slow, steadying breath, steeling himself for the final, brutal exchange.
But just as he braced for impact—
The kamaitachi's movements abruptly froze. Its entire body sprang backward in a flash, putting a clean three zhang of distance between them.
Whoosh—!
In the next instant, a brilliant streak of white light shot past from behind Hikaru, grazing his temple with a whisper of pure energy before slamming into the very spot the kamaitachi had just occupied.
A Sacred Arrow.
Hikaru risked a glance over his shoulder.
Kikyo stood before the main shrine hall, her hand still held in the elegant posture of having just released the bowstring. Her white kosode and red hakama swayed gently in the night wind, a beacon of purity in the blood-soaked courtyard.
And before her, the Shikon Jewel had finally returned to a state of calm. The pale purple light it emitted was soft and steady, entirely devoid of the violent, churning black aura that had possessed it moments before.
Magatsuhi had been suppressed. Completely.
"...Done?" Hikaru asked, his voice a low rasp.
Kikyo offered no reply. She simply nocked another arrow and drew her bow once more, the razor-sharp arrowhead aimed squarely at the wounded kamaitachi. The motion was as fluid as a river, showing no outward sign of fatigue.
But Hikaru knew. He knew she had to be just as exhausted as he was. The spiritual power required to maintain the purification circle and subdue Magatsuhi would have been no less draining than his own desperate battle.
Seeing Kikyo suddenly enter the fray, the fierce light in the kamaitachi's eye dimmed, replaced by a sharp, calculating vigilance. And beneath it, a flicker of fear. It could feel the immense power coiled within that nocked arrow. This was no ordinary Sacred Arrow. It had also heard the legends of the shrine maiden Kikyo—a being who had purged countless high-level demons from the world.
"Trying to run?" Hikaru's voice cut in from the side.
The kamaitachi's pupil contracted. Without it even realizing, the blood-soaked Oni Samurai had already circled around, positioning himself squarely in its only escape route. He looked unsteady, as if a strong gust of wind might topple him, but he was undeniably blocking the path.
"Move!" the kamaitachi roared.
It had no desire to fight any longer. One eye was destroyed, its internal organs were shredded, and more than half of its demonic power was gone. If it continued this battle, even if it managed to kill the weakened oni, it would be struck down by the shrine maiden's arrow.
It wasn't worth it. The Shikon Jewel was a tempting prize, but its own life was far more precious. As a demon of the Qualitative Transformation level, the wisdom it possessed was leagues beyond that of common, low-level yokai.
It prepared to force a breakthrough. With the natural speed of a wind demon and the power of its advanced stage, it was confident that as long as it could charge past them, neither of the two exhausted combatants could ever hope to catch it.
The kamaitachi's body began to compress, its two-zhang frame shrinking down to a single zhang. Its muscles coiled like springs, and its speed surged once more.
It became a gray shadow, a blur of motion as it charged directly at Hikaru—
Clang!
The sharp ring of metal on claw echoed through the shrine grounds. Hikaru's blade met its first strike. Though the impact sent him staggering back several steps, his body screaming in protest, he had blocked it. He had held the line.
The kamaitachi froze for a split second, stunned. It had assumed the little demon was at his absolute limit; it never expected him to still be able to move, let alone parry a full-speed assault.
In that single moment of hesitation, the very ground seemed to rise against it.
The gnarled roots of the old locust tree, already severed once, burst from the soil again, wrapping tightly around the kamaitachi's hind legs. A large rock, dislodged from the garden, rolled with impossible purpose and slammed into its side. The last few drops of water in the stone well basin shot out as razor-sharp ice spikes, aiming for its remaining eye.
Even the old farming hoe came flying through the air. It moved with a crooked, pitifully slow trajectory, yet its angle was perfect, cutting off the kamaitachi's path of retreat.
It only held for a fraction of a second. Less than half a breath.
But it was enough.
BOOM!
A sound like a thunderclap ripped through the silence.
Hikaru turned his head just in time to see that the arrow Kikyo had unleashed was burning. It was wreathed in spiritual power—power so pure, so unbelievably dense, that it enveloped the shaft and formed a blinding corona of white light.
The light was too bright. So bright that Hikaru had to squint, so brilliant that it washed over the entire shrine, illuminating the night as if it were day.
This was it—an arrow overflowing with her very essence. Kikyo had poured every last drop of her remaining spiritual power—a pittance for her, yet a world-ending force to others—into this single shot.
One arrow to decide the outcome.
The kamaitachi smelled the stench of its own death. The scent was so overpowering that its every instinct screamed at it to flee.
But it could not escape.
Its foot was entangled by roots, a rock blocked its flank, a hoe barred its retreat, and the damnable Oni Samurai stood before it.
"No—!"
A final, desperate roar erupted from the kamaitachi's throat. It opened its mouth, gathering the last vestiges of demonic power in its body, and spewed forth a furious gale, attempting to blow the arrow off course.
But the instant its demonic wind touched the white light, it was purified. Annihilated.
Like snow meeting a blazing sun. Like darkness meeting the dawn.
It couldn't even slow the arrow down.
The white light pierced clean through the kamaitachi's chest.
Boom—
The spiritual power detonated within its body, tearing its Qualitative Transformation shell apart from the inside out. The kamaitachi's scream stopped abruptly, and its physical form began to disintegrate. The winds it had gathered over countless years finally broke free, dissipating into innumerable tiny currents that vanished into the night sky.
Hikaru stood his ground, watching the scene unfold.
A high-level demon of the Qualitative Transformation stage.
Killed in a single shot.
'So this is the strength of the strongest shrine maiden of the Sengoku period,' he thought.
Despite this overwhelming offensive power, Kikyo's physical constitution wasn't particularly strong. But that was the classic archetype of a human 'mage,' wasn't it? High attack, low health. Not that Kikyo's defense was weak by any means; her barrier techniques were masterful. Among human spiritualists, she was already an anomaly.
A series of notifications flashed across his vision.
[Shikon no Tama: Naohi: Favorability +8]
[Current Favorability: 34 (Trust)]
[Naohi Favorability has exceeded 30. Bond Dialogue (II) can be unlocked.]
[Unlocked first talent: Spirit Vision]
[Effect: You can now see the spiritual power drifting between heaven and earth.]
Hikaru stared at the panel, momentarily stunned.
'Spirit Vision?'
He blinked.
And then he saw it.
Countless pale blue motes of light were drifting through the air all around him. They flowed slowly on the night wind, some rising toward the sky, others sinking into the ground.
'This is... spiritual power?'
He raised a hand, trying to touch the ethereal light spots. They passed directly through his palm, eliciting no reaction. It seemed he could only see them for now, not absorb or interact with them.
But this alone was a monumental gain. At the very least, he could now distinguish which areas had dense spiritual power and were suitable for cultivation. He could use it to gauge the relative strength of human spiritualists. And if this ability could evolve further, from simply 'seeing'to'touching'... he might even be able to try 'conquering' spiritual power itself.
But that was a concern for another day. What truly amazed Hikaru now was that this ability was active without him needing to 'possess' the Shikon Jewel. It seemed that as long as he maintained the favorability link, the talent would remain in effect. It didn't belong to him, but it was his to use. Incredibly convenient.
He lifted his head and looked toward Kikyo.
The shrine maiden was still standing there, but her body was swaying slightly. That one arrow had utterly exhausted her spiritual power. She, too, had reached her limit.
Hikaru began to walk toward her. His steps were a bit unsteady, but he could still move.
Kikyo watched him approach. She didn't retreat or try to increase the distance between them. She simply stood there quietly, waiting.
Moonlight spilled down from the heavens, bathing the two of them in its silvery glow.
The blood-soaked Oni Samurai.
And the pale, weakened shrine maiden.
Both of them looked ready to collapse at any moment.
But they were still standing.
"...Is it over this time?" Hikaru asked, his voice low.
"It's over," Kikyo replied softly.
The Shikon Jewel floated serenely behind her, emitting a gentle, reassuring purple light. Magatsuhi was completely subdued. The kamaitachi had been purified. The swarm of bats had long since scattered to the four winds.
The crisis of the full moon night had finally passed.
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