Chapter 121: Invincible Upon This Land
The pillar of light dissipated.
High above, the sea of clouds swirled shut, only to be torn anew by the morning breeze. Thin slivers of daylight leaked through the cracks, spilling over the ruins of the great pagoda below.
Kobe Hikaru fell from the sky.
Lingering wisps of thunder still coiled around his ankles. The moment his feet touched the ground, purple arcs of lightning spread several feet across the scorched earth, crackling as they seared the surrounding rubble.
His breathing was heavy, but not from the exertion of battle—though the fight had been draining. He had been locked in a high-altitude stalemate with that vile demon, his Thunder-forged Muscles firing at maximum capacity the entire time.
No, this was the exhaustion of the mind.
It had been a delicate, high-stakes operation: constructing a cage of blood mist and lightning above the clouds, all while coordinating with Kikyo's spiritual power to create a lens—a lens to refract and focus the rays of a sun that had not yet crested the horizon. The slightest miscalculation, and the light would have missed its target completely.
Fortunately, it had succeeded.
That foul demon, a creature that had devoured thousands of lives, couldn't even struggle for long under the amplified glare of the sun. Its demonic energy, its yao qi, was first weakened by Kikyo's spiritual power, and then its regenerative abilities were incinerated by the sunlight. Both of its weaknesses were struck simultaneously, breaking the cycle of its unnatural existence.
Its final, agonized roar echoed over the sea of clouds for a few fleeting moments before its entire body erupted into black ash, scattered to the winds by the high-altitude currents.
Not even a trace remained.
The demon's rise and fall were both owed to the same source. Without that cursed blood, it never would have possessed the speed to rival a great yokai, and it would have been instantly purified by Kikyo's spiritual power. But with that blood came a fatal vulnerability to sunlight and heat.
Hikaru sheathed Muramasa, its blade still radiating a faint warmth. He glanced down at the Nekomata Claws cradled in his arm.
[Nekomata Claws: Favorability +10]
[Current Favorability: 90 (Symbiosis)]
[It is deeply satisfied. The death energy accumulated by that demon over centuries was partially absorbed by the claws at the moment of its annihilation. They are growing stronger.]
He was close. Soon, he would be able to unlock another transformation.
Hikaru tucked the claws back into his robes, raised his head, and surveyed his surroundings.
The ruins of the pagoda were a scene of utter devastation. The five-story spiritual tower had completely collapsed. Blackened timbers lay scattered across the ground, and the great pillars once carved with Sanskrit were shattered into fragments. The golden light of the spell seals had long since been extinguished, leaving only dark, lifeless engravings.
The seal was broken. Hundreds of years of suppression, undone in a single day.
And the one who had caused all of this…
Hikaru's gaze fell upon a figure at the edge of the ruins.
Tsubaki.
She lay in a heap of rubble, her white and red shrine maiden robes stained with dust and blood. Her once-beautiful face was twisted into a grotesque mask. The light of reason had vanished from her dark red pupils, her canines were hideously elongated, and her fingernails had sharpened into wicked claws.
Half-human, half-demon.
The demon blood she had consumed had not vanished with her master's demise. On the contrary, with the external demonic aura gone, it began to erode her body with even greater ferocity. Her skin was turning a deathly gray, a frost-like pallor spreading from her fingertips up her arms, slowly encasing her entire body.
Demonization. Irreversible demonization.
The delicate balance she had maintained with her spiritual power for so long had finally shattered when her energy was depleted.
"Heh… hehehe…" A harsh, mocking laugh escaped Tsubaki's lips. "Failed again…"
Her voice was a hoarse, broken whisper. "I gained… nothing…"
Her gaze drifted toward the sky. In the east, the gaps in the clouds now blazed with light. The sun no longer needed a spiritual lens to make its presence known. It was dawn. Truly dawn.
Golden sunlight spilled over the mountain ridge and onto the ruins of the pagoda.
It spilled onto her body.
Smoke began to rise from Tsubaki's skin—the same white mist he had seen at the Demon Slayer village, the telltale sign of a demon disintegrating in the sun. The blood coursing through her veins offered no resistance.
"Kikyo…" Tsubaki turned her head, her eyes finding the figure in white and red standing not far away.
Kikyo stood at the edge of the ruins, her longbow hanging by her side. The morning breeze gently stirred her long, black hair. Her expression was calm, her dark eyes regarding Tsubaki with neither pity nor hatred.
Only silence.
"You won," Tsubaki rasped, her lips barely moving. The resentment and jealousy that had yet to be spoken were burned to cinders by the sunlight. "From the very beginning… you were the one who won…"
"But I… am still… not convinced…"
A death without peace. A death without meaning. This was her only end.
The white mist crept from her limbs to her torso, then from her torso to her head. Finally, that beautiful, twisted face dissolved in the first rays of the morning sun.
Only a pile of white ash remained.
And a string of prayer beads.
Deep brown wooden beads, strung together by a thin cord, lay scattered beside the ashes, coated in a fine layer of dust. They were the ritual tool of a shrine maiden of the pagoda, something Tsubaki must have taken from her sect, an item that had accompanied her for years.
Hikaru walked over, squatted down, and picked up the beads. The wood was warm and smooth to the touch, carrying a faint, residual flicker of spiritual power.
A panel materialized in his vision.
[Capturable target detected.]
[Pagoda Shrine Maiden's Prayer Beads]
[Quality: Demonic Tool (Potential)]
[Current Favorability: 0 (Unconscious)]
[Description: These beads once belonged to a shrine maiden of immense talent who strayed from her path. The tool itself, however, does not distinguish between good and evil. It has only faithfully recorded the traces of its master's spiritual power throughout her life. Though Tsubaki's power has dissipated, the heritage and lingering will of the shrine maidens remain within the beads. If you can awaken it—it will become a fine instrument.]
Demonic Tool quality. Though it was dormant now, the potential was obvious.
Hikaru said nothing, simply tucking the prayer beads into his robes. He stood and turned to the side.
Kaede and Botan stood a few steps away, their faces pale. They stared at the pile of ash, at the spot where their former senior sister had vanished. Their mouths opened, but no words came out.
Silence stretched on, long enough for the morning light to banish every shadow from the ruins.
Finally, Kaede moved. She walked to Kikyo and bowed deeply—not a simple bow, but one of deep apology, her forehead nearly touching her knees.
"Lady Kikyo." Her voice was soft, laced with shame. "We were wrong."
"From the very beginning, everything was wrong."
"We believed every word our senior sister said… without question, without a second thought. Just because she was our senior, we trusted her."
"And because of that, we almost… we almost brought harm to you, and to the people of that village."
Botan bowed as well, her movements clumsy. Tears welled in her large eyes again, dripping onto the gravel at her feet. "I'm sorry… Lady Kikyo… I'm so sorry…"
Kikyo looked down at them, her pitch-black eyes holding no trace of reproach. She reached out and placed a hand on Kaede's shoulder.
"Raise your head."
Kaede looked up, tears clinging to her eyelashes, reflecting the morning light like tiny prisms.
"You did nothing wrong," Kikyo said, her voice calm but each word carrying immense weight. "Trusting one's seniors is not a mistake."
She paused.
"But from now on—use your own eyes to see. Use your own heart to judge. Do not take the words of others as your own answers."
Kaede bit her lip and nodded vigorously. Beside her, Botan sniffled and did the same.
Hikaru stood to the side, a silent observer. He idly rolled the prayer beads between his fingers before pocketing them. His gaze drifted to the ground beneath his feet.
The ruins of the great pagoda. A desolate land stretching for miles.
Now that the centuries-old seal had dissipated, this land, which had been steeped in demonic energy for so long, was slowly recovering its vitality.
No, it was more than just recovering.
When Kikyo's spiritual lens had refracted the sunlight from high above, it had also incidentally purified the residual demonic and turbid energies in the area. Combined with the utter annihilation of the great demon, the resentment it had accumulated over hundreds of years was scoured away in an instant by the morning light.
This land—was clean. Cleaner than it had been even before the seal was first placed.
Hikaru could feel a faint vibration rising from the soil. It wasn't an earthquake, nor was it the stirrings of more demonic energy.
It was… a response. A response from the land itself.
It was just like the recognition the Kanto region had given him after he had slaughtered the demons that had attacked Kaede Village.
A panel appeared before him.
[Kanto Region Land Favorability +1]
[Current Favorability: 2]
[Description: You have once again purified the filth upon this land. The earth remembers you. It will grant you greater returns—but this also means that more things are now watching you.]
Favorability: 2.
Though the increase from one to two seemed insignificant, Hikaru knew this was a monumental change. The last time his favorability had increased to one, he had gained the ability to draw upon the power of the earth itself—bone spikes erupting from the soil, lightning surging through the ley lines, blood mist seeping into the very rock. That power had been his trump card against Kidomaru.
Now, his favorability was two.
He wasn't yet sure what specific changes this would bring, but he could vaguely sense it—the land beneath his feet felt more intimate, more connected to him. It was like the difference between being a stranger and a nodding acquaintance.
It was still a long way from being "one of its own," but it was a step in the right direction.
Given time… perhaps he could truly stand upon this land and be invincible, whether he faced a great yokai, the gods and buddhas of this earth, or even… a Demon King.
Hikaru withdrew his senses and looked at Kikyo.
She had already released Kaede's shoulder and turned to face him. The morning light illuminated her form, the breeze pressing her white top against her torso, outlining the slender lines of her shoulders and back. The hems of her red hakama were stained with dust and dew, but her posture was straight and proud, showing no trace of fatigue.
She looked at him.
He looked back at her.
Neither of them spoke. There was nothing that needed to be said.
The great demon was destroyed. Tsubaki was gone. The problem of the pagoda's seal no longer existed.
Everything was resolved.
Kikyo walked to his side and stood still. The two of them stood shoulder to shoulder, facing the east. The morning light grew ever brighter, its golden rays washing over the ruins, driving away the last vestiges of shadow.
"Let's go home," Hikaru said.
Kikyo didn't answer, only nodding slightly.
But her left hand, hanging by her side, quietly brushed against the back of his.
He didn't reach out to hold it. He simply shifted his own hand, letting the back of it press against her fingers.
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