The third One-eyed Demon saw this and turned to flee.
Kobe Hikaru jumped down from the One-eyed Demon's corpse, his left hand forming a spell seal.
Sorcery: Will-o'-the-Wisp Fireflies.
A mass of eerie blue flames shot out, accurately hitting the One-eyed Demon's back.
The flames exploded, and the One-eyed Demon fell to the ground with a miserable scream.
Kobe Hikaru walked over and finished it off with a single strike.
Three One-eyed Demons, in less than thirty breaths' time.
[demon blade muramasa: Favorability +1]
[Current Favorability: 28]
But this was only the beginning.
More eyes were emerging from the woods.
Blue-skinned Oni, Snake-bodied Demons, Centipede Spirits, Bird-headed Monsters...
And some hybrid demons whose names Kobe Hikaru didn't even know.
They swarmed in, surrounding Kobe Hikaru in the center.
"It's him!"
A familiar voice rang out from the demon crowd.
Kobe Hikaru looked toward the sound and found it was the same group of demons that had been hunting the old man earlier.
Or rather, the remnants of that group.
The leader was a larger Blue-skinned Oni, a head taller than the average one, with a layer of coarse scales covering its skin.
Clearly, it was their chieftain.
"It's this Oni Samurai who stole the shikon jewel!"
The Blue-skinned Oni chieftain pointed at Kobe Hikaru and shouted to the surrounding demons.
"Kill him! The shikon jewel is ours!"
"It's ours!"
The demon crowd erupted in a world-shaking roar.
Kobe Hikaru scanned his surroundings.
A rough estimate: at least two hundred of them.
Even more than the wave outside the cave before.
It seemed the attraction of the shikon jewel was truly no joke; it had drawn in demons from several nearby mountains.
"You really are a trouble magnet."
Kobe Hikaru muttered under his breath, his right hand tightening around the hilt.
The shikon jewel in his breast pocket still emitted a faint purple glow, completely unresponsive to his complaint.
[shikon jewel: Current state 'Dormant', Favorability cannot be unlocked.]
It wouldn't even say a word.
Even harder to please than that blade.
"Fine then."
Kobe Hikaru let out a breath.
He looked up at the encircling demons; his inverted black-and-white eyes held no fear, only indifference.
"Since you insist on delivering yourselves to my door..."
He drew his blade.
The blade gleamed coldly under the moonlight, its hamon pattern faintly shimmering with purple.
"Then don't blame me for being ruthless."
The demon crowd seemed intimidated by his aura for a moment, but greed soon overrode their fear.
"Attack together!"
At the Blue-skinned Oni chieftain's command, over two hundred demons charged simultaneously.
Kobe Hikaru met them head-on.
Carving out a bloody path.
That was his only choice.
Amidst the humming sound, Kobe Hikaru swung his blade forward, slash after slash.
Slash, slash, and slash again!
[Favorability: 30]
[Unlocked Trait: Resonance with Blood]
[Unlocked Bond Dialogue (2): It tells you that it is very satisfied with today's meal and reveals a secret—its creator was a swordsmith named 'muramasa', and every blade that man forged carries a 'Bloodthirsty' curse.]
[Within your line of sight, all blood shall become your 'eyes', allowing you to resonate with blood and dance with slaughter!]
Volume 1: Chapter 7 - The Four Demon Transformations, Twenty-Four Changes
[Resonance with Blood].
The effect of this ability was even more ridiculous than Kobe Hikaru had anticipated.
And it certainly didn't disappoint him.
The moment he delivered the first strike and the first drop of blood splashed into the air, countless perspectives suddenly flooded his vision.
Those perspectives came from the blood droplets.
Every drop of blood became his eye.
A full three-hundred-sixty-degree view with no blind spots.
To his back-left, a Snake-bodied Demon was winding up for a dash; above to his right, a Bird-headed Monster dove down with talons extended; directly in front, three Blue-skinned Oni were flanking him with bone clubs.
He saw everything crystal clear.
This thing...
Kobe Hikaru didn't waste words; his body reacted before his thoughts.
He stepped to the left and swung the blade behind him.
Puchi.
The blade precisely sliced into the Snake-bodied Demon's vital seven-inch mark. The snake's body continued to lunge forward, but its head was already rolling on the ground.
No need to look back.
Because the splashing blood told him that the Bird-headed Monster had reached within two feet of the top of his head.
Kobe Hikaru leaned forward and thrust the tip of his blade toward the sky.
This move would be almost suicidal in a normal fight—back to the enemy, blade pointing up, completely abandoning defense.
But he could see.
The tip of the blade pierced through the Bird-headed Monster's jaw and out through the top of its head.
The demon's talons grazed his back, only tearing a few broken armor plates.
A hair's breadth away.
Kobe Hikaru flicked his blade, and the Bird-headed Monster's corpse flew at the three Blue-skinned Oni in front, knocking them off balance.
He took the opportunity to rush in. Three slashes.
Three heads hit the ground.
[demon blade muramasa: Favorability +1]
[Current Favorability: 31]
Satisfying.
For the first time, Kobe Hikaru felt a sense of ease in battle.
Not because the enemies were too weak, but because he could see everything.
Blood was his scout.
As long as there was blood on the battlefield, he was the master of this domain.
And on the current battlefield, blood was the one thing that wouldn't be in short supply.
"Kill!"
The Blue-skinned Oni chieftain roared from behind the demon crowd.
More demons surged forward, filling the gaps left by their fallen comrades.
Kobe Hikaru didn't stop.
He charged into the demon crowd.
It was a mad choice.
But [Resonance with Blood] gave him the capital to be mad.
Blade light flashed.
One, two, three strokes.
Every flash of the blade brought a rain of blood, and every rain of blood made his vision even broader.
He moved through the demon crowd like a fish in water.
No demon could ambush him.
Because their blood had already betrayed their positions.
Thirty breaths.
Another twelve demons fell.
Kobe Hikaru's swordsmanship became faster and his movements more fluid.
The strength of these demons was uneven.
Some died in one hit, some required two, and some could even block his attacks.
There was clearly a hierarchy among them.
Where did the difference lie?
It lay in their morphological differences, in the degree of 'mutation' from their original form before becoming a demon.
Some were just ordinary deformed creatures—discolored skin, sharp claws, nothing more.
Others had clearly mutated more thoroughly, growing horns, scales, tails, and other organs that shouldn't exist.
And a few were a size larger than their kin, their movements more agile and fierce.
This was the essence of a demon.
Transformation.
From weak to strong, from mortal to demon.
Every change was an evolution, and every evolution made the demon stronger.
Kobe Hikaru had gradually figured out this system over the past three months.
A demon's growth is divided into four major stages, known as the 'Four Transformations'.
The first stage is called 'Physical Transformation'.
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