The night outside the cave was quiet.
Abnormally quiet.
Kobe Hikaru had taken less than ten steps out of the cave before he sensed something wrong.
It was the Shikon Jewel.
It was glowing.
The thumb-sized jewel in his clothes was emitting a faint purple light through the cloth bundle.
The glow was soft, but impossible to hide.
That light pierced through the rough hemp cloth, through his battered armor, and shone in the night like a lantern.
No.
It was even more noticeable than a lantern.
Because that glow carried a unique aura.
A mixture of spiritual power and demonic energy.
To humans, this aura might only feel like an indescribable sense of mystery.
But to yokai—
It was meat.
A fragrant, glowing piece of fat meat, enough to make any yokai drool with greed.
“Fuck.”
Hikaru cursed under his breath.
He should have realized it earlier.
The reason those yokai had chased the Shikon Jewel was not just because of its legend.
It was also because the jewel itself was a massive signal flare.
As long as it existed, as long as it was not sealed, it would continuously release its aura.
Like a bonfire that never went out, drawing every moth within dozens of miles.
“Haaah—”
A low hiss came from the distance.
Hikaru raised his head.
At the end of the forest, countless pairs of eyes lit up in the darkness.
Red, green, yellow, purple.
Packed together like stars.
Those eyes were moving quickly, gathering in his direction.
“Here we go again.”
Hikaru pressed his left thumb against the sword guard and lowered his center of gravity.
The system panel automatically appeared.
[A large number of hostile targets detected approaching.]
[Demon Blade Muramasa: Mood changed to “Highly Excited.” It has conveyed a message to you: “Dinner again.”]
“You’re pretty optimistic about this.”
The corner of Hikaru’s mouth twitched.
Before his words had even faded, the first wave of yokai charged out of the forest.
Leading the charge were three one-eyed oni.
They were over ten feet tall, each with a single enormous eyeball in the middle of its head.
Their skin was a rusty dark red, and each one brandished a thick spiked club.
“Found it!”
The leading one-eyed oni let out an excited roar.
“The Shikon Jewel is on that oni samurai!”
“Take it!”
The three one-eyed oni pushed off at the same time.
Hikaru did not retreat.
The body of an oni samurai did not know fear, so naturally, he would not be frightened by this level of pressure.
He only watched their movements calmly, searching for an opening.
The one in the lead had raised its spiked club the highest, exposing the gap beneath its armpit.
There.
Demonic power surged beneath Hikaru’s feet.
[Ghost Step].
His figure vanished from where he stood.
In the next instant, he appeared on the left side of the leading one-eyed oni.
He drew his blade.
Black blade-light slashed upward from below, cutting precisely into that exposed armpit.
Clang—!
The blade pierced through the one-eyed oni’s armpit and carved upward, splitting its shoulder blade before bursting out through its neck.
That strike nearly sliced off its entire left arm along with half of its torso.
The one-eyed oni’s single eye widened.
Before it could even scream, it crashed to the ground.
“Big brother!”
The remaining two one-eyed oni froze for a split second before letting out even more frenzied roars.
Two spiked clubs smashed down from the left and right at the same time, forming a pincer attack.
Hikaru did not dodge away.
His body leaned forward, and he slid close to the ground, passing right through the gap between the two clubs.
The spiked clubs struck empty air and smashed two huge craters into the ground.
Hikaru had already appeared behind the one-eyed oni on the right.
With a reverse grip, he stabbed his blade into the back of its knee.
The tip pierced through, bringing out a spray of blood.
The one-eyed oni’s knee buckled, and it dropped to one leg.
Before it could react, Hikaru had already leaped onto its back and swept his blade sideways.
Its head hit the ground.
When the third one-eyed oni saw this, it turned and ran.
Hikaru jumped down from the corpse and formed a hand seal with his left hand.
Yokai Art: Will-o’-Wisp Firefly.
A cluster of ghostly blue flame shot out and struck the one-eyed oni squarely in the back.
The flame burst apart, and the oni screamed as it fell to the ground.
Hikaru walked over and finished it with one slash.
Three one-eyed oni, killed in less than thirty breaths.
[Demon Blade Muramasa: Affection +1.]
[Current Affection: 28.]
But this was only the beginning.
More eyes were surging out of the forest.
Blue-skinned oni, snake-bodied yokai, centipede demons, bird-headed monsters…
There were also plenty of mongrel yokai Hikaru could not even name.
They swarmed forward and surrounded him in the center.
“It’s him!”
A familiar voice rang out from the yokai horde.
Hikaru followed the sound and saw the group of yokai that had been chasing the old man earlier.
Or rather, what remained of that group.
It stood a head taller than the others, and its skin was covered in a layer of rough scales.
Clearly, it was their boss.
“That oni samurai stole the Shikon Jewel!”
The blue-skinned oni boss pointed at Hikaru and shouted to the surrounding yokai.
“Kill him!
The Shikon Jewel is ours!”
“Ours!”
The yokai horde erupted into roars loud enough to shake the night.
Hikaru swept his gaze around.
At a rough estimate, there were at least two hundred of them.
More than the wave outside the cave earlier.
It seemed the Shikon Jewel’s attraction was no joke.
The yokai from several nearby mountains had all been drawn here.
“You really are a little troublemaker.”
Hikaru muttered under his breath and tightened his right hand around the hilt.
The Shikon Jewel in his clothes continued giving off that faint purple glow, completely ignoring his complaint.
[Shikon Jewel: Current State: “Dormant.” Affection cannot be unlocked.]
It would not even answer him.
Harder to please than that sword.
“Fine.”
Hikaru let out a breath.
He raised his head and looked at the yokai encircling him.
In his black-and-red eyes, there was no fear, only cold indifference.
“If you’re all so eager to throw yourselves at me…”
He drew his blade.
The sword gave off a cold gleam beneath the moonlight, its temper line faintly tinged with purple.
“Then don’t blame me for being rude.”
The yokai horde seemed intimidated by his aura for a moment, but greed soon overpowered their fear.
“Attack together!”
At the blue-skinned oni boss’s command, more than two hundred yokai charged at once.
Hikaru met them head-on.
He had only one choice.
Cut a bloody path through.
Amid the humming of the blade, Hikaru swung forward and cut simply for the sake of cutting.
Cut.
Cut.
And cut again!
[Affection: 30.]
[Unlocked Trait: Blood Resonance.]
[Bond Dialogue Unlocked (2): It tells you that it is very satisfied with today’s meal and reveals a secret: its maker was a swordsmith named Muramasa.
Every blade forged by that man carries the curse of “bloodthirst.”]
[Within the range of your vision, all blood shall become your “eyes.” Resonating with blood, you shall dance with slaughter.]
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