Kobe Hikaru did not charge down.
He was not an idiot.
Seven or eight hundred yokai were besieging the village.
Even with Kikyo’s barrier holding them back, if he swaggered down from the mountaintop, that would not be bravery.
That would be suicide.
Even if he wanted to hand over the Shikon Jewel, there was no way he could do it like that.
Besides, he had no intention of handing it over immediately, at least not before unlocking its affection.
But he could not just wait here either.
The Shikon Jewel in his clothes needed to get close to Kikyo to trigger its unlock verification.
That was the prerequisite given by the system.
And right now, Kikyo was in the shrine at the center of the village.
He was on the mountaintop.
Between them stood seven or eight hundred yokai.
“…This is a little tricky.”
Hikaru crouched behind a massive boulder and watched the chaotic battlefield below.
The yokai horde’s attention was completely focused on the village barrier, and not a single yokai was looking toward the mountaintop.
That was the good news.
The bad news was that the Shikon Jewel was still glowing.
Although he had wrapped the pale purple light in several layers of cloth, that unique aura was still leaking out.
If he approached from the front, those yokai would definitely notice.
But if…
Hikaru’s gaze swept across the battlefield.
As far as he could see, the yokai horde’s formation was not strict.
To be more accurate, there was no formation at all.
Seven or eight hundred yokai were messily packed together, all fighting on their own.
Some were attacking the barrier, some were fighting their own kind for a better position, and some were even crouched in a corner gnawing on the corpses of freshly dead companions.
Chaos.
Extreme chaos.
And within that chaos, demonic energy was everywhere.
Thick, turbid, overwhelming demonic energy.
It was so dense it almost seemed solid, like a heavy gray-green fog covering the entire area outside the village.
If an ordinary person stood inside it, they would probably faint on the spot from the stench alone.
But for Hikaru, this was the perfect cover.
Because he was also a yokai.
He also carried demonic energy, and not a small amount of it.
Its quality was even extremely pure.
In this ocean of demonic energy, his own aura was like a single drop of water merging into the sea.
It would not draw any attention at all.
As for the Shikon Jewel’s aura…
Hikaru lowered his head and glanced at the jewel in his clothes.
Even beneath layer after layer of cloth, the faint purple glow was still barely visible.
“Can’t you stay quiet for a bit?” he whispered to the jewel.
The Shikon Jewel did not respond.
It simply continued glowing in silence, completely indifferent to his request.
“…Forget it.”
Hikaru sighed.
Fortunately, although the Shikon Jewel’s aura was unique, it would still be heavily diluted and concealed within this vast ocean of demonic energy.
The senses of low-level yokai were limited.
As long as he did not pull the jewel out and use it like a flashlight, he should not be discovered.
“Let’s go,” he whispered to Muramasa at his waist.
[Demon Blade Muramasa: Mood: “Confused.” It does not understand why you are not charging straight in and slaughtering everything.]
“Because I don’t want to die, young lady,” Hikaru answered simply.
He lowered his body and moved down along the shadow of the slope.
He did not use [Ghost Step], since that would stir up demonic energy, and at this distance, it would be easy to notice.
He chose the most primitive method instead.
Walking.
Walking with his own feet.
Quietly.
Like a snake.
Hikaru pressed close to the ground, his body nearly level with the grass.
His battered crimson armor was stained with mud and grass juice, which instead made it the best camouflage in the twilight.
He moved along the outer edge of the yokai horde, deliberately choosing the areas where demonic energy was thickest.
That dense aura acted like a natural barrier, completely hiding his presence.
Occasionally, a few blue-skinned oni ran past him.
Their eyes were fixed straight ahead on the barrier, and they did not notice the figure hidden in the grass at their feet at all.
One one-eyed oni even stepped on his hand.
It hurt.
But Hikaru did not make a sound.
He only silently pulled his hand back and continued forward after the one-eyed oni ran away.
[Demon Blade Muramasa: Mood: “Angry.” It strongly suggests cutting off that one-eyed oni’s foot.]
“Quiet.”
Hikaru said the word in his mind and kept crawling forward.
Fifty jō.
Forty jō.
Thirty jō.
The density of the yokai horde grew higher and higher, forcing him to become even more careful.
There were several times when he was almost discovered, but thanks to [Blood Resonance], he sensed the movements of the surrounding yokai ahead of time and adjusted his route.
After killing so many yokai along the way, most of the demonic blood on his body had been absorbed by Muramasa.
Even so, plenty still remained in the gaps of his armor.
That residual blood became his warning system.
Any living creature that came within three jō of him would be detected.
Twenty jō.
Fifteen jō.
Hikaru could already see the barrier’s light screen clearly.
Pale-white radiance flowed before his eyes, giving off a warm and sacred aura.
That aura made his skin heat up slightly.
At this distance, the natural suppression spiritual power had over yokai was already starting to take effect.
But he endured it.
Ten jō.
He crouched behind a pile of yokai corpses.
They had been killed by Kikyo’s demon-purifying arrows, and the bodies still carried traces of warmth.
Lifting his head, Hikaru peered through the gaps between the corpses and looked toward the shrine.
Kikyo was right there. Find the original chapter at g.com.
White kosode, red hakama, standing above the stone steps.
She was shooting arrows.
The bowstring was drawn, white light gathered, and the arrow flew.
A centipede demon trying to climb up the side of the barrier was pierced through the head.
Its corpse fell and smashed into the yokai horde below, stirring up a wave of startled cries.
There was no expression on Kikyo’s face.
Her cool eyes were as calm as a deep pool.
As if being besieged by seven or eight hundred yokai was nothing more than a routine matter that needed to be dealt with.
And in reality, that was exactly how she handled it.
Hikaru looked at her, and a thought surfaced in his mind.
‘She’s strong.’
At the same time, she was also truly—
Beautiful.
‘No, this isn’t the time to think about that… damn this turbid energy.
Is it affecting me again?!
I’m not that kind of shameless person!’
Hikaru drew in another breath of the battlefield’s muddy demonic air and barely forced himself to “calm” down before looking away.
No matter what, now was definitely not the time to admire her.
He lowered his head and looked into his clothes.
The light of the Shikon Jewel was changing.
The pale purple radiance was no longer spreading evenly.
Instead, it had begun gathering toward the direction ahead.
The direction where Kikyo was.
The jewel was sensing her.
Or rather, the jewel was responding to her.
The system panel also kept flashing.
[Detected the “Suppressor” approaching…]
[Affection unlock condition verifying…]
[Distance has met the minimum requirement.]
[Affection unlock verification complete.]
[The Shikon Jewel’s affection may now be unlocked.
Please proceed in a safe environment.]
Enough.
Hikaru stared at the prompt on the panel, and a faint light flashed in his eyes.
It worked!
Getting close to Kikyo really was useful.
He did not even need to meet her or talk to her.
As long as the distance was close enough, the Shikon Jewel could automatically sense the existence of the Suppressor and complete the unlock verification.
In this kind of situation, it was the perfect chance to fish in troubled waters.
‘Great.’
He said it in his heart.
Then the system panel refreshed.
Lying behind the pile of corpses, Hikaru stared at the new content that appeared on the panel.
[Shikon Jewel]
[Quality: Divine Artifact]
[Current State: Awakening]
[Affection: Unlocked]
[Current Affection: 0 (Stranger)]
His eyes lit up.
But before he could feel happy, another prompt appeared below the panel.
[Please choose an unlock path:]
[Option 1: Purify one demon to unlock the “Naohi” affection route.]
[Option 2: Create negative emotions in one human to unlock the “Magatsuhi” affection route.]
[Note: The two routes are mutually exclusive.
Once chosen, they cannot be changed.]
Hikaru stared at those two lines for several seconds.
This was the first time he had encountered something like this.
An affection route.
Naturally, he had not forgotten the setting from the original story.
He had not forgotten that the Shikon Jewel, formed from the souls of the strongest shrine maiden Midoriko and hundreds of powerful yokai from centuries ago, was made up of four souls.
Aramitama, Nigimitama, Kushimitama, and Sakimitama.
Those four souls represented the virtues of courage, friendship, wisdom, and love.
At the same time, the jewel also sealed the resentment of yokai within it.
The former was Naohi.
The latter was Magatsuhi.
Cowardice, estrangement, ignorance, and indifference—the four negative souls.
Good and evil, righteousness and corruption, two forces eternally clashing within the jewel.
If the holder’s heart leaned toward goodness, the jewel would lean toward Naohi and exert purifying power.
If the holder’s heart leaned toward malice, the jewel would lean toward Magatsuhi and amplify demonic power.
That was the true nature of the Shikon Jewel.
It was like a mirror, reflecting the true appearance of the holder’s heart.
“So this is basically the system asking me to choose a side?”
Hikaru stared at the panel and sank into thought.
Option one: purify a demon and take the Naohi route.
That meant he would have to raise affection by purifying yokai.
It sounded strange.
After all, he was a yokai himself, yet he would be using his yokai identity to purify his own kind.
What kind of messed-up operation was that?
Although he had been killing yokai all along, simple extermination and purification were not the same.
To call it purification, he would have to dissolve even the corpse completely and leave no pollution behind in the surrounding environment.
He could not do that.
As for option two: create negative emotions in a human and take the Magatsuhi route.
That was obviously asking him to use evil acts to raise affection.
Killing people, harming people, making people suffer and fear.
That option sounded more in line with a yokai’s nature.
But…
Hikaru frowned.
Deep down, he was still human.
A person who had transmigrated from the modern world and still possessed basic morals.
He could kill people for survival and self-defense, but not out of preference.
He did not have that kind of preference.
Besides—
From a purely practical perspective, he was currently lying inside a siege formed by seven or eight hundred yokai, and the nearest human was the strongest shrine maiden of the Warring States period.
Choose Magatsuhi?
Create negative emotions in a human?
How was he supposed to do that?
Make a scary face at Kikyo and get shot dead by an arrow?
Don’t be ridiculous.
But if he chose Naohi—
Purify one demon.
Hikaru lowered his head and looked around.
Yokai were everywhere.
Living, dead, half-dead.
There were as many as he could possibly want.
He could kill one casually, then borrow Kikyo’s momentum and use her arrow to complete the purification.
Maybe it really could work.
It was practically a free question.
‘So I don’t actually have a choice at all.’
Hikaru thought.
Besides, feeding weapons with yokai blood, raising affection, and gaining abilities had always been his way of surviving.
If he took the Naohi route, he only needed to keep doing what he had already been doing, perhaps with the added step of getting closer to Kikyo.
There was no need to change much.
And—
He raised his head and looked through the gaps between the corpses toward the shrine again.
Kikyo released another arrow.
White light cut through the murky demonic energy and pierced through the chest of a bird-headed monster.
The bird-headed monster’s corpse fell from the air, crashed against the surface of the barrier, and slid down to the ground.
Kikyo had already begun drawing her next arrow.
Her quiver was still more than half full, and her spiritual power remained abundant.
But the consumption from seven or eight hundred yokai was real.
No matter how powerful a shrine maiden was, she could not output power without limit.
Not to mention, Kikyo had not yet reached her peak.
Her spiritual power might hold, but her stamina would not.
Her technique also still had room to improve.
Maintaining the barrier and shooting arrows at the same time multiplied the drain even further.
Could she hold on?
Of course she could.
At least for now, she looked like she could.
But what if—
The instant that thought crossed his mind, Hikaru sensed something wrong.
It did not come from the yokai horde in front of him.
It came from far away.
His body suddenly stiffened.
The instinctive warning of one oni samurai sensing another went wild at that moment.
He turned his head and looked toward the western ridge.
There—
Four completely different demonic auras were rapidly approaching.
Each one was a whole level stronger than the small fry around him.
No, more than a whole level.
They were—
Four high-level yokai that could be considered leaders.
They were racing over from the western ridge, and their target was clearly the besieged village.
More accurately—
The Shikon Jewel.
They must have followed the traces left by the Shikon Jewel all the way here.
The lingering aura on Hikaru’s body was the best road sign.
They were only one step later than him.
And now, they had arrived.
Hikaru really wanted to curse under his breath.
Of all times, it had to be now.
He was lying behind a pile of yokai corpses with the Shikon Jewel in his clothes, ten jō away from Kikyo, and roughly three hundred jō away from those four high-level yokai.
For high-level yokai, three hundred jō was only a matter of a few breaths.
Keep hiding?
If those four high-level yokai joined the battle, the pressure from the horde would multiply.
Whether Kikyo’s barrier could still hold would become uncertain.
So—
“Option one.”
He gave the answer in his heart.
His hand was already gripping Muramasa’s hilt.
“Naohi.”
Then—
He stood up from behind the pile of corpses.
The instant Kobe Hikaru rose, the three blue-skinned oni closest to him froze at the same time.
They turned their heads and saw a figure crawling out from the dead, wearing battered crimson armor.
Loose pale hair, a crimson oni mask, and a pair of eyes with black and white reversed.
“Wha—”
The leading blue-skinned oni had just opened its mouth.
Blade-light flashed.
Its mouth was still open, but its head was no longer on its neck.
As the head spun through the air, from its flipping perspective, it could still see its own body standing in place while blood gushed from the severed neck like a fountain.
Hikaru did not look at the flying head.
His blade was already cutting toward the second one.
Kesagiri.
From shoulder to waist, split in two with a single slash.
The third blue-skinned oni screamed and turned to run, but the tip of Muramasa was faster than its legs.
A thrust.
Through the back of the neck.
Three blue-skinned oni, killed in less than two breaths.
[Demon Blade Muramasa: Affection +1.]
[Current Affection: 73.]
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