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Hagoromo Gitsune lowered her head slightly, her expression unreadable. At her command, several demons surged forward, launching a frenzied attack on Yuto.
Yuto's eyes sharpened. He drew the Harpe, wasted no words, gripped the hilt with both hands, and slashed forward. The blade's light danced like a dragon. In an instant, the graceful figure charging at him seemed to freeze. With the sound of the wind, she began to fall apart. The wound was smooth, without a drop of blood, as if her body had been hollowed out from within.
Thud!
Under the stunned gazes of the surrounding demons, the evil fox woman, still fierce in death, collapsed and rolled across the ground.
"Death is your best fate."
After killing Hagoromo Gitsune with a single strike, Yuto stepped forward again. This time, he held the blade with one hand forward and one hand back, the edge aligned with his left arm. The blade's light surged like heavenly lightning, continuous and unbroken.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sound of heavy bodies collapsing echoed like a chorus of smashed watermelons. Foul blood pooled across the ground in thick streams, sweeping corpses and debris together in its flow.
Without expression, Yuto drew Hagoromo Gitsune's corpse into the Sea of Life. This fox demon, infamous for her repeated reincarnations, had survived by seizing other people's bodies throughout generations. But under the overwhelming power of the Harpe, an artifact that negated immortality, she finally lost her ability to reincarnate and revealed her true form.
"Without the host's appearance, you're too hideous."
Yuto flooded her form into the Sea of Life, drowning it completely. Then his gaze shifted to the black-haired girl lying nearby. This was Yamabuki Otome, the host Hagoromo Gitsune had gone to great lengths to possess. In the original story, Yamabuki Otome had been the first wife of Nurarihyon, the second-generation leader. Manipulated by Abe no Seimei, she had been implanted with false memories, turned into Nurarihyon's daughter, and eventually possessed by Hagoromo Gitsune. Her life had been a tragic one.
Yuto used the Sea of Life to read her memories. In his world, Yamabuki Otome had never married Nurarihyon. She was simply unfortunate enough to be chosen by the ambitious fox demon as a host. Now that Hagoromo Gitsune was dead, the graceful and gentle woman in a kimono began to stir as if slowly awakening from a long slumber. With the Sea of Life's power capable of reviving even the dead, her recovery did not surprise Yuto.
At that moment, Tsuchimiya Kagura's shout rang out from behind.
"Oh no, Yuto-nii, that demon is escaping!"
"What?"
Yuto looked up and saw a young demon in a loose white kimono with shoulder-length white-gray hair and bare feet leaping through the air in a panic, trying to escape his attack range.
Suddenly, a light arrow pierced through the sky and struck the demon, pinning him to the ground. Turning around, Yuto saw a graceful woman in a red and white miko outfit. Her deep, dark eyes calmly met his gaze.
Kikyo.
Yuto hadn't expected to meet the elegant and serene Kikyo here. The miko furrowed her brows slightly, retracted her longbow from her back, and descended gently from the air like a butterfly flitting among flowers. Her sacred aura carried an almost magnetic charm. Her jet-black hair, styled in a princess cut, cascaded like a waterfall behind her, making her look like a fairy stepping out of a painting.
She approached the pinned demon and studied his face.
"Naraku's aura… It seems you are one of that man's incarnations."
"Woman, let me go... Let me go now!"
The white-haired demon had been pierced through the chest by the sharp Demon-Breaking Arrow. His torso was wide open, revealing a pulsing crimson heart. As the most powerful antagonist in InuYasha, Naraku was a composite demon born from the Gu poison technique. His human predecessor was the wicked bandit Oni Gumo, who had committed countless atrocities.
Naraku's greatest ability was the continuous absorption of other demons. He would take their strongest traits and discard their weaknesses, growing ever more powerful. Over the centuries, with the aid of the Shikon Jewel, he had learned to reorganize his body and divide it into separate incarnations.
Hakudoshi was one such incarnation. Sharing a heart with Naraku's other bodies, he could not die no matter how often he was shattered. In addition, he could peer into human hearts and wield powerful demonic energy and solid barrier techniques. He was not an enemy to take lightly.
"What a pity. May you not become Naraku's pawn in your next life."
Though Kikyo looked delicate, her spirit was unyielding. She believed in quality over quantity and upheld the principle of completely eliminating evil.
Kikyo had grown up in the Sengoku period, a time when demons ravaged the land and hatred between humans and yokai was at its peak. Although she stood with humanity, she always judged the situation with reason. However, she showed no mercy toward those who committed unforgivable sins.
She raised her spiritual bow, aimed at Hakudoshi's heart now pulsing on the ground, and released another arrow.
A radiant glow shot through the night. The arrow pierced the heart, pinning it firmly in place. Yet the heart still writhed, oozing dark miasma, refusing to die.
"Hmm… What is this?"
Kikyo frowned. Hakudoshi's persistent immortality puzzled her. She paused, trying to determine the best way to deal with it.
Calm footsteps echoed behind her. She turned cautiously toward the sound and saw a strikingly handsome young man.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Kikyo. I'm Yuto."
"Ah. You're that young Tyrant…?"
Kikyo looked up in surprise, her obsidian eyes brightening.
Half a year ago, after crossing through the Bone Eater's Well into the modern world, Kikyo had led a nomadic life with no fixed place to stay. As someone from ancient times, adapting to this era had been anything but easy. It wasn't just a matter of culture shock. On the streets, girls in ultra-short skirts and revealing tops had left the conservative priestess dumbfounded. At first, Kikyo had wondered if demons ruled this world, for how else could humans abandon dignity and dress in such shameless ways?
While searching for Naraku and gathering fragments of the shattered Shikon Jewel, the wandering miko eventually met a demon-extermination team led by Jinguuji Ayame. She accepted Ayame's invitation and joined the Supernatural Countermeasures Office. Through various missions, she quickly absorbed modern knowledge.
Though Kikyo had blended into this time period, she remained deeply curious about the man who brought humans and demons together. Yuto's ingenious Reward Implementation System had impressed her greatly.
"I am Kikyo. It's a rare chance to finally meet you."
The black-haired beauty extended her hand. Yuto raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised.
"Miss Kikyo, you know me?"
"I've heard of you," the kimono-clad miko replied with a gentle smile.
Watching them converse so comfortably after just meeting, Hakudoshi felt a surge of jealousy. Both Naraku and Oni Gumo had once loved Kikyo deeply. But while Oni Gumo's affection was direct and desperate, Naraku's love had turned warped and twisted. He despised his half-demon nature and sought the Shikon Jewel to become a pure demon, no matter the cost.
"Ugh… You damned adulterous couple, let me go!"
Jealousy consumed Hakudoshi. His once-handsome face contorted with rage, veins bulging grotesquely. His eyes, filled with venom, glared at Yuto and Kikyo with seething hatred.
"Do you have the right to speak here?"
Though Yuto did not move, a crushing killing intent spread through the space around Hakudoshi. To others, it may have seemed like nothing, but to the demon boy, it was as if time had frozen.
'Oh no!'
The boy sensed true danger. His eyes widened in terror. Cold sweat poured down his face, and even his immortal heart skipped a beat.
Yuto turned and looked at him casually.
Boom!
Hakudoshi's mind went blank. His body lost control and flew sideways like a broken doll.
Kikyo's brows twitched slightly. When she saw his lifeless, hollow eyes, her heart stirred. That demon had been scared to death by the young man before her.
Remembering Yuto's infamous nickname, the black-haired miko's lips moved without sound, thoughts rippling through her mind.
They say you can't judge a book by its cover. A genius who created a system that brings peace between humans and demons… If only he had been born in my era, how wonderful that would have been.
In Kikyo's time, war never ceased. Demons ran rampant, people starved, and chaos reigned. Peace was a dream buried beneath endless suffering. She had walked a path soaked in blood, slaying demons and protecting innocents, striving for a future that never came.
That was why she admired Yuto's achievements so deeply and had always longed to meet the one who had changed the world.
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