"Seeking death!"
The Kamaitachi was enraged, and its body suddenly expanded.
From half a zhang it restored to one zhang, and then to two zhang.
An increase in size meant dispersed power and a decrease in speed.
But at the same time, it meant—
An expanded defensive range.
It no longer dodged, but instead used its body to directly tank Hikaru's attack.
"Clang!"
Hikaru's blade struck the Kamaitachi's cheek but failed to pierce through.
That layer of grayish-white fur was harder than steel.
The Kamaitachi grinned hideously.
"Small tricks!"
Its claws swept across.
Hikaru had no time to dodge and was struck by a palm, flying out like a kite with a broken string.
He crashed through the outer wall of the shrine.
Bricks and stones shattered, and dust rose everywhere.
"Cough..."
He crawled up from the ruins, black blood overflowing from the corner of his mouth.
That hit was not light.
But his eyes were still bright.
Because he saw it.
Through the blood mist permeating the battlefield, he saw the rotation trajectory of the airflow within the Kamaitachi's eye socket.
This meant—
It was about to use a big move, wasn't it?
The Kamaitachi said no more.
It simply opened its mouth.
That mouth opened wider and wider, until it almost took up the entire face.
Grayish-white airflow condensed deep in its throat, becoming thicker and denser.
That was its killing move.
It was a devastating attack that compressed all the wind to the extreme and then released it all at once.
It was enough to level the entire shrine.
But Hikaru did not retreat.
He just raised his left hand.
"Help me once more."
He said.
He wasn't speaking to the Kamaitachi.
This was still addressed to those 'friends' who were still struggling on the battlefield.
The residual roots of the old locust tree shook again; this time it wasn't just leaves, even those root fibers grew inexplicably, wrapping around the Kamaitachi's ankles like wriggling worms.
Large rocks rolled and crashed into its knees.
The last column of water from the well gushed out, turning into a water curtain that blocked the way in front of Hikaru.
The last few wooden planks from the abandoned thatched hut flew toward the Kamaitachi's eyes.
The hoe finally arrived—though it only lightly tapped the Kamaitachi's tail.
But it was enough.
The Kamaitachi was distracted.
Its attack was half a beat slow.
And within that half-beat, Hikaru had already struck.
[Bloodthirsty Madness] erupted with full force.
[Blood Transformation] turned the blood in his body into propulsion.
His speed reached its limit at this moment.
So fast that even the Kamaitachi could not catch him.
A flash of blade light.
muramasa pierced into the Kamaitachi's eye socket, into that swirling airflow.
"Awoo—!!!"
The Kamaitachi let out a sky-shaking scream of agony.
The airflow that was charging up went out of control, exploding in its throat and shattering the internal organs it had painstakingly formed through Qualitative Transformation and compression.
Hikaru withdrew his blade and retreated.
The Kamaitachi stumbled back, blood gushing from its eye socket.
That eye was ruined.
Although it wasn't dead, its combat power was reduced by at least thirty percent.
"You... you..."
The Kamaitachi's voice was filled with disbelief.
Although it didn't carefully categorize the levels of yokai like Hikaru did, it could feel the absolute gap between itself and this little yokai before it.
And yet, it had actually been harmed by this little yokai?
And it was a heavy injury at that?
This was impossible!
But the facts were right before its eyes.
Hikaru stood there, holding the still-dripping muramasa.
His body was also covered in scars, and black blood stained half of his clothes.
But he was still standing.
Compared to before, he hadn't retreated half a step.
Instead.
He had moved even further forward!
As the saying goes, when the time comes, heaven and earth work together.
At this moment, although Hikaru did not have the support of heaven and earth.
He did, however, have the support of all the 'objects' in this village.
He could still fight.
He could move forward!
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