Shinji hadn't returned just in time by chance. He had been monitoring the situation in Kaede Village the entire time.
Not through intuition. Not through precognition.
Through blood.
His blood.
Before leaving Kaede Village, Shinji had used [Blood Change] to leave extremely faint traces of blood mist in every corner of the village, seeping into the cracks in the soil, clinging to the wooden eaves, even mixed into the grain of the stone slab he often sat on beneath the shrine veranda.
Those blood mists were so faint that Kikyō's barrier didn't even register them as foreign.
But they were his eyes.
If it were any other place, at this distance, Shinji's blood Change wouldn't have worked.
But Kaede Village was different.
He had left affection with everything here.
Those things had no consciousness, but their 'spirituality' would actively help him maintain the presence of his blood mist.
In other words,
If he wished, even from hundreds of miles away, he could sense something amiss in the village through those scattered fragments of blood mist.
Not clearly, but enough to detect.
So, the moment the barrier was triggered, the moment those twisted demon figures, not belonging to yōkai, poured into the village
Shinji knew.
He left the Imagawa retainers still handing over affairs in Suruga. He left the little demons still being settled. He activated [Lightning-Muscle Sharp Body] to its fullest and ran north.
Lightning wrapped around him. Blood mist cleared his path.
He compressed hundreds of miles into less than an hour.
When he arrived, he saw a scene that made him raise an eyebrow beneath his demon mask.
The seven piles of ash had long since dissipated. Kikyō stood in the open ground, longbow in hand, her expression calm.
Before her stood little Kaede, arms spread wide. Behind her, the villagers had gathered spontaneously. Ten paces away, two girls in shrine maiden attire stood frozen, their faces blank.
Further off, on a rocky slope, a white-and-red figure knelt on one knee, covered in mud, hair disheveled, her beautiful face marked with disgrace and fear.
And what most caught his attention, that woman's spiritual power had been sealed.
Sealed by Kikyō.
Across thirty yards, silently, without her even noticing.
Shinji watched this scene, the corner of his mouth beneath the crimson demon mask curving upward.
He had always known Kikyō was strong.
The power of her purifying arrows, the sophistication of her barrier arts, the depth of her spiritual power, even with the slight drawback of her human physique, she was still the strongest among shrine maidens. He had seen all that long ago.
But what he saw today wasn't just strength.
It was her heart.
From beginning to end, this girl hadn't uttered a single word in her defense.
No rebuttal, no justification, no argument. Faced with the accusations of two brainwashed young shrine maidens, faced with the machinations of a schemer skilled in rhetoric
She just stood there.
Fired one arrow, flushing out the rat in the shadows.
Sealed the spiritual power, turning the tables, breaking the other's state of mind.
Clean and sharp.
As always.
This clarity of not falling into the trap of self-justification, this composure of not even bothering to respond, cannot be cultivated through training.
It is self-affirmation. And confidence in one's own existence.
She doesn't need others to believe she is innocent.
Because she knows she is innocent.
That's enough.
Amazing.
If this weren't a battlefield, he would want to walk over right now, pick her up, and spin her around three times in front of everyone.
Of course, he wouldn't do that.
Because Kikyō would hit him.
"Big brother!" Little Kaede's voice broke into his thoughts.
The twin-tailed little girl looked at Shinji. "You're back! That bad woman was scared by Sister!"
"I saw." Shinji pressed her head lightly, then turned his gaze to Tsubaki on the rocky slope.
True to her reputation as the 'schemer' in the original story.
Using demon blood to attract demons, timing it so her junior sisters would witness the 'evidence' firsthand, if it had been anyone other than Kikyō, she might have succeeded. Might have shaken her.
A shrine maiden's state of mind is crucial. Once caught in self-doubt, even her control over spiritual power weakens.
But she ran into Kikyō.
Ran into a powerful shrine maiden who wouldn't even deign to explain herself.
So she lost. Completely.
At least, on the level of rhetoric and scheming.
Shinji's prepared measures, it seemed, were unnecessary.
[Cat Demon's Paw: Affection 72]
[Talents unlocked.]
[First Talent: Undead Affinity, All low-tier, self-unconscious undead will show you goodwill.]
[Second Talent: Soul Summoning, Within a short time after a spirit dissipates, its residual consciousness fragments can be temporarily condensed, making it briefly 'return.']
This talent had been unlocked after his affection had risen above fifty on the battlefield of Yajirōgen.
The battlefield's abundant spirits and death aura had awakened this previously lifeless object further.
If needed, he could use it at any time to summon the souls of dead 'witnesses.'
That had been his prepared measure, a necessary tool if Kikyō's state of mind had been affected.
But it seemed, for now, it wasn't needed.
Still, Shinji looked at Tsubaki's eyes.
In those eyes, now somewhat unfocused after her spiritual power had been sealed, there was no sign of surrender.
Only fury, and buried deeper than the fury, madness.
"She has another card." Shinji murmured.
Kikyō glanced at him without questioning.
Even though Tsubaki was kneeling on the rocky slope, her spiritual power sealed, her body disheveled, her scheme exposed, her rhetoric ineffective, her junior sisters wavering.
Even the 'fallen shrine maiden' narrative she had so carefully orchestrated had been shattered by Kikyō's single arrow and single sentence.
She had lost.
To everyone watching, she had lost completely.
But the corner of Tsubaki's mouth, at an angle no one noticed, twitched.
She lowered her head.
Her long black hair fell, hiding most of her face.
From the outside, she looked like a defeated loser.
Then she smiled.
Not the carefully crafted elegant smile of before.
But the twisted smile of someone who, at the last moment, tears off all pretense.
Clearly, Tsubaki still had strength left. Still had another card.
Still had—
Boom!
Thunder rose again. Lightning exploded. The moment she smiled, Muramasa at Shinji's waist was already drawn, wrapped in blood mist and crackling with lightning!
Tsubaki was directly submerged by the surging light of power, her eyes wide.
"!?"
The others were startled. The two young shrine maidens of the Tahōtō were frightened.
Only Kikyō: "…"
The shrine maiden glanced at Shinji beside her, who had suddenly drawn his sword. The white-haired demon warrior looked cold and stern, but was clearly thinking, 'See? That's compatibility.'
Kikyō understood that Shinji was 'imitating' her.
She silently lowered her bow. Both of them knew that neither was in the habit of letting an enemy unleash their power while just watching.
Unfortunately…
"Heh."
"Hehe."
"Since it's come to this—"
Tsubaki's laughter rang out again. Her figure had reappeared on a small hill dozens of steps away.
Disheveled, ragged, her body bearing the marks of lightning and blade-light, her face pale but alive. Still alive.
This one had prepared an escape in advance?
Shinji clicked his tongue. He thought, no wonder she had been a boss in the original story. With enough preparation, she was not so easily dealt with.
He saw the Tahōtō shrine maiden pull her hand from her sleeve. In her palm, she clenched a talisman.
The patterns on that talisman were not those of any orthodox shrine maiden's technique… Seeing this talisman, Momiji and Botan's expressions changed dramatically.
It was a seal-breaking charm.
The key to the Tahōtō's seal.
In this world, the Tahōtō was an ancient spiritual tower that held evil spirits in check. Its seal had been maintained by Tsubaki's master, and by each generation of guardian monks before her, with a lifetime of spiritual power.
Beneath the tower was sealed a demon, an evil spirit that had been imprisoned centuries ago.
Momiji and Botan, as their master's last disciples, had inherited the duty of guarding the Tahōtō.
And Tsubaki was their senior sister.
The talisman in her hand had been made by their master, while still alive, as a contingency and had been stolen by Tsubaki without their knowledge.
This was Tsubaki's true final card against Kikyō… If she couldn't shake Kikyō's state of mind, this would be her last resort.
"Tsubaki! Have you gone mad—!" Momiji was shocked, almost horrified.
"What's sealed under the Tahōtō, if you release it, no one can stop it—"
Tsubaki ignored her.
As she crushed the talisman, her other hand formed a hand seal.
Not an attack. Her spiritual power was sealed; she couldn't project it for an attack. But she could still activate techniques she had prepared in advance.
And this technique was not aimed at demons.
It was aimed at people.
A so-called… black magic.
"Senior Sister, you actually learned the black arts that Master forbade—?!" Botan was no longer merely shocked, but utterly dismayed.
To this, Tsubaki merely lifted her lips in a smile, her long hair flying.
The technique she used was precisely the Tahōtō's forbidden black magic, linking herself to the demon imprisoned beneath the tower. Something no one could stop, a drawing near to the demon.
For an ordinary person, approaching that imprisoned demon would be a terrifying curse.
But for Tsubaki, it was not.
For her, at this moment, this method was like, an instantaneous transfer.
But no one could stop it!
Tsubaki's greatest specialty was never exorcism, but black magic aimed at people… She had planned to shake Kikyō's state of mind, and when her spiritual power became unstable, to cast black magic on her.
Unfortunately, she had failed.
"Tsubaki—!" Momiji rushed forward, the talismans in her hand transforming into countless paper dolls, all launched at once!
But in the instant the white light exploded, the dozens of paper dolls passed through nothing but residual spatial ripples.
Tsubaki had vanished.
Only her final words lingered in the air, drifting, carrying a cold laugh.
"Kikyō, Shinji, come after me."
"We'll meet… at the Tahōtō."
…
Momiji stood still, her face pale.
Botan's talismans scattered on the ground, her large eyes wide, her lips trembling, unable to make a sound.
They finally realized.
What their senior sister intended to do.
And they no longer understood that they had been deceived.
"The Tahōtō…" Botan's voice trembled. "Senior Sister is going to break the seal—"
"That demon," Momiji finished her sentence, her voice sounding forced through her teeth.
She turned to look at Kikyō and Shinji. In her eyes, which had been hostile toward Kikyō moments ago, there was now only one emotion.
Fear.
"What's sealed beneath that tower is not an ordinary demon."
Momiji's voice was urgent:
"Master said it's a terrifying demon, an evil spirit sealed away centuries ago, it once devoured an entire town's population before being subdued. Master spent her entire life's spiritual power maintaining the seal. Her final dying wish was, that it must never be released."
"If Senior Sister… Tsubaki breaks the seal—" She swallowed.
"That demon will absorb all life around it. It will quickly recover its former power…"
Shinji's gaze moved from Momiji to the west.
The Tahōtō was to the west.
About a hundred miles from Kaede Village.
True to her reputation as the Tahōtō shrine maiden skilled in black magic from the original story, Tsubaki's sudden transfer was something they couldn't stop.
But even that level of black magic couldn't be instantaneous.
They still had time. They could catch up.
"Kikyō." He spoke.
"Yes." Kikyō had already slung her longbow over her back and retied her hair with a white cord. "Kaede, watch the village."
Little Kaede paused, then nodded firmly.
"Big brother, Sister Kikyō… be careful."
Kikyō looked at her sister but said nothing more.
She turned to Momiji and Botan.
"Don't worry."
Momiji opened her mouth, wanting to say something, perhaps an apology, perhaps an explanation, perhaps just a question.
But Kikyō gave her no chance.
"Let's go." Shinji's hand was already on Muramasa's hilt.
[Lightning-Muscle Sharp Body] activated.
Purple electric arcs exploded beneath his feet, cracking the ground.
The next instant, his form turned into a bolt of purple lightning, charging into the night.
Kikyō followed close behind.
White spiritual power rose around her. The moment her feet left the ground, two birds, shikigami, flew from her sleeves, carrying her body westward.
Not the fastest, but it would have to do.
Momiji gritted her teeth, took Botan's hand, and followed.
Four figures vanished into the night.
Kaede Village returned to silence.
Only the moonlight remained, shining on the last few piles of dissipating ash on the ground.