At this moment in Kaede Village, the night was still thick; it was the dead of night, and the long night still had a long way to go.
Kikyo stood atop the shrine, watching the aged figure walking slowly toward her.
Her long pitch-black hair drifted, tied back, yet the ends still scattered in the wind like a waterfall, or more like feathers merging with the night.
Her expression was clear.
But the hand gripping the longbow, the fingers drawing the bowstring, and the unceasing ripples of spiritual power glow all bore witness to the priestess's inner lack of calm.
Because of the name Kidomaru.
Because of this existence!
As mentioned before.
Hundreds of years ago, the Demon King of Mount Oe, Shuten-doji, who was once world-renowned as the lord of all monsters and spirits, led the Night Parade of One Hundred Demons to ravage Kyoto.
At that time, the Onmoryo was out in full force, and even the warriors of the Minamoto clan were mobilized. Finally, relying on the power of Minamoto no Yorimitsu, who was regarded as the incarnation of the deity Indra (Gozu Tenno), they barely managed to seal that Great Yokai.
And under Shuten-doji's command, there were three Great Yokais.
Ibaraki Doji, Hoshiguma-doji, and Toriguma-doji.
And then there was the one below them—Kidomaru.
Unlike the three great Doji, Kidomaru's origins were not illustrious, and his growth process was neither filled with ups and downs nor magnificent.
He was merely a demon formed from the resentment of an infant abandoned in the mountains.
It was said that in life, he was abandoned by his biological parents in the deep mountains and eaten by wild beasts. After death, his resentment absorbed the souls of countless other abandoned infants who suffered the same fate, eventually transforming into this old demon.
He wasn't the strongest.
But he was the most troublesome.
Because his transformation was not of power, nor of size.
It was—speed.
"It seems you are aware of this old man's existence."
Kidomaru's voice was aged, like dry wood rubbing together: "Then this old man shall skip the self-introduction."
He raised his hand.
He simply raised his hand.
But Kikyo's pupils constricted slightly.
Because in her perception, that hand took less than an instant to go from being raised to falling.
Fast.
So fast that even her spiritual power could not capture its trajectory.
"Transformation of Speed."
Kikyo whispered.
"Oh?"
A flash of surprise crossed Kidomaru's eyes: "The transformation of a demon's essence... You actually know of that as well?"
"You are indeed well-informed."
"Correct. My transformation is different from those fools who pursue power."
Although he didn't summarize it step by step from weak to strong like Kanbe Hikaru did.
Among demons, there were naturally those who would think.
Kanbe Hikaru was not the only one who could deduce the transformation of a demon's essence.
Kidomaru, or rather, the demons from Kyoto, more or less understood this principle.
Though it wasn't something they had summarized themselves.
Kidomaru then stepped forward slowly, each step very deliberate.
It was just that the world around him was even slower.
Those static demons, that frozen air, those leaves that no longer swayed—all proved one thing.
He hadn't made himself faster.
He had made—everything around him slower.
"Demons have many transformations, and this old man, after reaching a certain realm, transformed my speed."
Kidomaru spoke as if telling an inconsequential story: "Fast and slow are two sides of the same coin."
"This old man can make himself fast, and I can also make my enemies slow."
"I can even make time itself—stagnate."
This was not a transformation of elements.
This was the manipulation of basic physical properties.
It was a realm further beyond Materialization.
And judging from the Demonic Qi emanating from Kidomaru, this fellow's number of mutations had long since exceeded ten.
Ten transformations, eleven transformations, or even more—approaching the twelve transformations of a Gaseous Great Yokai.
This was already outside the scope of ordinary high-level demons.
This was an existence infinitely close to a Great Yokai, approaching what Kanbe Hikaru classified as 'Gaseous'.
For the first time, Kikyo's expression became sharp and even solemn.
Although she was regarded as the strongest priestess of the Sengoku Period, in this era, Great Yokais were scarce, and existences close to Great Yokais were not many either.
This was her first time facing a demon of this level directly.
"However—"
Kidomaru's tone suddenly changed.
He turned his head and looked in the four cardinal directions, where the four vanguard demons had been located.
Now, the Demonic Qi in those four directions had completely dissipated.
"You all have indeed surprised this old man a little."
"Thunder Beast, Gakimaru, Venomous Flood Dragon, Nekomata..."
"Those four were all demon leaders who had lived for hundreds of years."
"To think they were all slain in a single night? Moreover, you are still here—you didn't make a move."
He looked at Kikyo.
"Was it the work of that companion of yours?"
Kidomaru was somewhat surprised.
And yet, he didn't seem quite so surprised?
Inexplicably, Kikyo's heart suddenly skipped a beat.
She also suddenly spoke up, saying:
"You did it on purpose."
The priestess's voice was calm, and as cold as the evening breeze.
"Oh?"
The corners of Kidomaru's mouth curled up, his lips rising slightly, framed by his neatly groomed beard.
His footsteps came to a halt, and he asked with quite a bit of interest: "You saw through it?"
And Kikyo indeed had.
"Those four demons were pawns from the very beginning."
Kikyo's white robes fluttered, and the cuffs of her red hakama folded as she said sternly: "You didn't send them to besiege us."
"But rather—to let us kill them."
Silence.
Kidomaru did not deny it; he simply laughed.
That smile looked exceptionally eerie on his aged face.
"You are very clever."
He said: "Even cleverer than I imagined."
"A pity—"
He raised his hand and pointed all around.
"What does it matter if you know?"
Something was condensing in the air.
It wasn't Demonic Qi.
It was—Resentment.
A thick, surging Resentment that felt almost tangible.
"I knew you realized my goal in summoning those demons here was to gather Demonic Qi... but you seem to have forgotten that humans leave Resentment after death, and demons are no different."
Kidomaru's voice sounded as if it came from the Nine Serenities:
"You killed the Thunder Beast, and its Resentment pervades the western sky."
"You killed Gakimaru, and its Resentment shrouds the southern land."
"The Venomous Flood Dragon and the Nekomata are the same."
"Four demon leaders with over two or three hundred years of age; the Resentment left after their deaths coming from all directions is enough to cover this entire Musashi Province."
Kidomaru had been setting the stage from the very beginning.
Those four vanguards were not meant to kill.
They were—sacrifices.
Sacrifices used to generate Resentment.
"Awe."
Kikyo immediately uttered this word.
A demon's 'Awe' is obtained by spreading fear; it is an opposing existence similar to faith, yet different.
It is the nourishment for demons, a 'hormone' that can enhance a demon's strength in a short period of time.
Although they revert to their original form once the hormone fades.
But if they can maintain the existence of Awe, then that so-called hormone becomes equivalent to a 'normal state'.
And the Resentment of dead demons is itself a condensation of fear—though it is a directionless Awe that cannot be used by a single individual, it is perfectly suited to serve as a vessel to carry the power of an existence that shouldn't exist in this world.
"Exactly."
Black mist began to surge around Kidomaru: "On this land filled with the Resentment of four passable demons..."
"Only then can I unleash my strongest power."
That wasn't just Demonic Qi.
It was—a Domain.
With Resentment as the medium and fear as the foundation, Kidomaru's Domain shrouded the entire area.
"I am a ghost who died once, entered the Underworld, and returned. I have no physical body; what walks between heaven and earth is merely my remnant soul. While this allows my speed to reach the level of an ordinary Great Yokai, I also need 'Awe' to sustain my existence in order to exert sufficient power."
Yes, this was Kidomaru's true goal.
From start to finish, he had been preparing for his own move!
"Now."
He raised that pitch-black long sword.
The scabbard fell away, revealing a blade gleaming with an eerie blue light.
"Hand over the Shikon Jewel."
Kikyo did not speak.
She simply drew her bow and notched an arrow.
Spiritual power condensed at the arrow's tip, turning into a blinding white light.
"Then let's see—"
Her voice was very calm: "If you can take it from my hands."
Kidomaru laughed.
"You will regret this."
"Priestess."
In the next second.
He vanished.
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