The night grew deeper, and the evening wind grew colder.
After the last yokai fell, the battlefield finally became completely quiet.
Kobe Hikaru stood in the middle of the corpse pile, Muramasa still dripping blood in his hand.
The panel suddenly popped up before his eyes.
[Shikon Jewel: Naohi Affection +5.]
[Current Affection: 14 (Trust).]
Hikaru froze.
It rose by five points in one go?
This jewel had been so stingy before, raising by two points at most.
Now it was suddenly this generous?
[Shikon Jewel: Naohi Affection +3.]
[Current Affection: 17.]
It rose again.
Hikaru glanced sideways, looking toward Kikyo’s full chest—no, toward the Shikon Jewel in front of it.
The jewel’s light was changing.
The ink-black evil energy was being suppressed by a faint layer of white light, like milk dripping into ink, black and white distinct and sharply divided.
[Shikon Jewel: Naohi Affection +4.]
[Current Affection: 21.]
[Bond Dialogue One Unlocked.]
[It is conveying information to you—]
Hikaru waited for what came next.
The words on the system panel appeared one by one, slower than ever before.
[“Thank you.”]
[“It has been a very long time since anyone helped her.”]
[“You are the first.”]
The Shikon Jewel’s bond dialogue was actually direct “conversation,” not simply conveying more information?
As expected of a treasure even high-level yokai desperately wanted.
It really was much smarter than Muramasa!
Hikaru raised his eyes and glanced at Kikyo.
The shrine maiden stood before the floating Shikon Jewel, both hands forming seals.
Her spiritual power turned into strands of light, wrapping tightly around the jewel.
Her expression was solemn.
While Hikaru had been dealing with the remaining yokai, she had naturally begun “suppressing” Magatsuhi.
[“She is very strong, but she is still only one person.”]
[“Those who guard the Shikon Jewel are always lonely.”]
[“Because this duty cannot be shared, nor should it be shared.”]
[“So… thank you.”]
Hikaru did not answer.
He did not know how to answer either.
Say “you’re welcome” to a jewel?
Actually, that did not seem impossible…
[Shikon Jewel: Naohi Affection +2.]
[Current Affection: 23.]
[It has conveyed a warning to you—]
[“Tonight is not over yet.”]
[“Those earlier ones were only the appetizers.”]
[“The true threat has not arrived yet.”]
Hikaru’s brows furrowed.
The true threat?
That group of yokai earlier still did not count as a threat?
That four-armed ape had Five Changes, and that mist demon had at least Six Changes.
If even those did not count as threats—
[“Beware the sky.”]
[“Beware… me.”]
Beware you?
What did that mean?
But the system panel stopped showing new words.
The Shikon Jewel’s light also stabilized, with white light and black energy holding a subtle balance.
Hikaru wanted to ask more, but he knew it was useless.
This jewel was not like that chatterbox blade Muramasa, which practically wanted to pour out every thought in its head whenever it felt like talking.
When the jewel did not want to speak, not a single word would come out.
“Is something wrong?”
Kikyo’s voice came over.
Hikaru dismissed the panel and turned around.
“No—”
Before he finished speaking, the back of his neck suddenly went cold.
That was an oni samurai’s instinctive reaction to danger.
Hikaru abruptly raised his head.
The moon in the sky had become even rounder, so round it looked as if it might fall.
The moonlight was deathly pale, casting the entire shrine in a corpse-like blue-gray hue.
Then he saw it.
A black shadow was approaching from the horizon.
No, not one shadow.
A mass of them.
Densely packed, covering the sky and earth.
Countless times more numerous than the previous wave of yokai.
“Fuck.”
Hikaru cursed under his breath.
[Shikon Jewel: Naohi says—it wants to speak, but it can no longer do so.]
[Magatsuhi is suppressing it.]
The system panel showed one final prompt.
Then nothing.
Hikaru looked one last time at the Shikon Jewel.
The white light around the jewel was fading at a visible speed.
Black energy once again gained the upper hand.
And this time, that blackness was thicker and heavier than before, almost condensing into substance.
“The Hour of the Rat has arrived.”
(Note: It spans from 11:00 PM to 1:00 AM.)
Kikyo’s voice was very calm.
She also seemed to have given up on continuing to suppress Magatsuhi’s evil power, because she could not suppress it anymore.
She walked to Hikaru’s side and raised her head to look at the black mass in the sky.
“When the full moon reaches the center of the sky, yin energy reaches its peak.”
“At that time, Magatsuhi will overpower Naohi.”
“So…”
She paused.
“What comes next is the true trial.”
Hikaru tightened his grip on the hilt.
As mentioned before, the talents brought by Muramasa had already merged into his body, but the blade itself was still very useful.
The sharpness gained from repeatedly nurturing the blade was still there.
Its bloodthirsty trait was still there too.
It simply would not speak to him for the time being.
After its abilities fused into him, the object’s own spirituality would become “weakened” for a while until it recovered.
That recovery would not take very long, but it would not be immediate either.
“They’re here.”
Kikyo drew her bowstring.
The black mass had already arrived above the shrine.
They were not yokai.
They were… birds?
Hikaru narrowed his eyes.
Those things had wings, but they were not birds.
They were bats.
Thousands upon thousands of bats, each one the size of a human head.
Their eyes glowed green, and two sharp fangs protruded from their mouths.
A swarm of bloodsucking bats.
Individually, these things were not strong, but their numbers were overwhelming.
And they were not the main dish.
The main dish was behind them.
Hikaru saw it.
At the very rear of the bat swarm was an even larger black shadow.
That shadow’s body was… at least three jō long, hanging in the air like a small hill.
“What is that?”
Hikaru asked.
Kikyo did not answer.
She only released the bowstring.
A demon-purifying arrow shot out and exploded in midair, turning into countless streaks of white light that burned the dozen-plus bats at the very front into ash.
But compared to the entire bat swarm, that was nothing.
More bats dove downward.
Hikaru drew in a deep breath.
The demonic power inside him began to boil.
Blood rushed wildly through his vessels, making a sound like surging rivers.
This was the trait of [Blood Change].
His blood was no longer ordinary blood.
“Come on.”
Hikaru said softly.
He raised his left hand.
In his palm, a single drop of blood condensed.
Then it burst apart.
Turning into a sky full of blood mist.
The blood mist drifted outward, enveloping the entire shrine.
Through that blood mist, Hikaru could see every bat’s position, speed, and flight trajectory.
This was [Blood Resonance].
The first bat charged before him.
Hikaru swept his blade horizontally.
The edge cut through, splitting the bat in two.
The second.
The third.
The fourth…
Blade light flashed.
Corpses fell like rain.
But there were too many bats.
Kill ten, and a hundred more remained.
Kill a hundred, and a thousand more remained.
And that largest black shadow was already drawing closer and closer.
Hikaru finally saw what it looked like.
That was not a bat.
It was a giant…
Flying squirrel?
No.
That was…
“Kamaitachi.”
A famous, true “yokai” of this land.
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