Chapter 58: Genocider
[You have killed the guard, Kameda Eiji. You have gained 5 Dimensional Points.]
[You have killed the minister, Sato Kazuyuki. You have gained 30 Dimensional Points.]
…
[You have killed a total of 100 people. You have completed the Milestone: Genocider.]
[You have unlocked new Milestones: Slaughterer (Rare) and Asura (Rare).]
[Genocider - Due to excessive slaughter of humans, you now naturally emit a terrifying killing intent. When equipped, you will deal additional damage to human-type creatures and have a chance to cause them to flee in terror.]
[Change equipped Milestone?]
"Change."
Only then did the flood of notifications fully register in Kaito's mind. He stood poised on the samurai's tachi, as light as a crane perched on a branch.
Ito Yuji, his muscles still locked in a state of horrified shock, looked up at the man standing on his blade. He felt a dreadful, oppressive aura radiating from him, a presence completely different from any martial artist or master swordsman he had ever encountered. It was as if they were two different species.
SHIING!
The other swordsman drew his blade and slashed at Kaito from behind.
At the same moment, Ito Yuji snapped out of his stupor. Coordinating with his teammate, he followed through with his own slash. With [Mercenary Tao's Pink Robe] boosting his Martial Arts Aptitude by a level, Kaito was now like a true martial artist who had grasped the fundamentals. His movements were fluid and natural. With a light tap of his feet, his body floated upwards, defying all intuition.
The swordsman's attack hit empty air. Kaito descended from above, stomping down with one foot.
CRACK!
In an instant, extreme lightness became extreme weight. A force of over a thousand pounds smashed the swordsman's head down into his own chest cavity.
Seeing this, a chill spread from the base of Ito Yuji's spine throughout his entire body. This man was more terrifying than any martial artist he had ever seen, as monstrous as one of those demons called the Upper Ranks.
Kaito glanced at the swordsman who was now frozen in terror, let out a soft laugh, and then, with another booming stomp that shattered the floorboards, he continued his violent pursuit.
It was a long while before Ito Yuji came to his senses. He collapsed to the ground, limp. When the support troops finally arrived and saw the state of their elite guard, they asked, "Ito-san! Where is His Highness?"
Ito, his spirit completely broken, ignored their strange looks, let his sword fall from his grasp, and stumbled away. "That was no human technique," he muttered. "It must be the revival of some ancient sorcery… it was yōjutsu…"
He was a man whose will had been utterly crushed. The others had no choice but to continue the chase.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
At that moment, Kyoto was in chaos. Explosions erupted from every corner of the city. Some were small, caused by old-fashioned gunpowder. Others were from newer black powder explosives. But some—the ones targeting the headquarters of military and political figures, as well as troop barracks—were from high-explosive munitions that did not belong in this era. They were even mixed with what seemed to be subsonic weaponry.
This was the attack launched by Kyoto's stubborn old guard—the Shintoists and the Onmyōji, united and coordinated by the Professor and his group. Their core objective, besides crippling Hirohito's forces, was to bomb the manors and estates where demons were likely hiding. Now that the sun was up, if they could just destroy the demons' hiding places, no matter how terrifying they were at night, they would not survive.
The Onmyōji of the famed Tsuchimikado clan, dressed in their ceremonial robes, were now gleefully hurling black powder bombs, their faces flushed in the light of the explosions. In this era, the effects of their Onmyōdō were weak; they could no longer even command their shikigami. The Meiji Restoration had been a great flood, constantly washing away the glory of their past in the Heian period. But in this moment, holding sticks of dynamite, they felt as if they had returned to that legendary age, their every action carrying immense power.
"Haha! So the times have changed, have they?" one of them roared. "Then let us first blow up you dogs of the new generation!"
The Professor watched the constant stream of notifications. Kyoto was infested with a huge number of demons. Under the cover of the city's bustling nightlife, many of the lower-class citizens had unknowingly become food. But now, with notifications of demon deaths constantly popping up, their rewards were piling up. Of course, since most of the kills were indirect, the individual point rewards were small, but due to the sheer volume, the haul was still considerable.
At the same time, the power balance of the main quest began to shift. The strength of the Demon Slayer Corps faction was steadily rising. The old noble families who had been cast aside by the era—especially those tied to religion and the supernatural—were now beginning to unite, brought together by their common enemies: Muzan Kibutsuji and Prince Hirohito. The Ubuyashiki Clan was already a powerful family in its own right, with generations of marriage ties to priestly families. But now, even Kyoto's largest shrine, the [Fushimi Inari-taisha], had sided with them. The suppression they had suffered, the lands and assets that had been seized—none of it was a problem anymore. Because no matter how much they had been abandoned by the times, these noble families, who had monopolized immense wealth for centuries, still had deep-rooted advantages.
Almost instantly, the power balance between the two factions shifted to a 30/70 split.
The Professor knew that as soon as Hirohito, the future emperor, was dead, the remaining princes would fall into chaos fighting over the throne. The entire political landscape would be fractured and re-divided. Some would want Muzan's power, but others would inevitably choose to side with the Demon Slayer Corps and the Shinto faction. It was a matter of balance, just like the political parties of many countries, ebbing and flowing, always striving for equilibrium.
Now… all we need is for our monster to kill the future emperor… the Professor thought, looking toward the center of Kyoto.
After his breakthroughs in martial arts and footwork, Kaito's movements were no longer as overtly explosive, but he was even faster. As he ran, his body was tilted at an almost impossible angle, the air humming with a low roar.
The ninja held Hirohito by the collar of his clothes. While his speed was still incredible for a normal person, he could hear the terrifying sound of the wind being torn apart behind him, and he knew he couldn't escape. He glanced at an inconspicuous wooden house in the distance, a red moon flag stuck in its doorframe.
The ninja took a deep breath. He forcefully shoved Hirohito forward, then instantly spun around to face his pursuer. "Your Highness! The safe house prepared by that man is just ahead! The Demon Moons will protect you! You can make it back to Tokyo!"
The ninja's voice was somewhat thin. Hirohito, hearing the words of his loyal bodyguard, didn't even have time to reply. He stumbled forward, but his legs were weak with exhaustion, and he couldn't run fast.
The black-clad ninja had already regulated his breathing. He drew the long sword from his back and held it vertically before him.
Kaito instantly stopped, his body transitioning from extreme motion to absolute stillness with fluid ease. He looked at the slender ninja, who was holding his sword in a unique stance, with a hint of disappointment.
"You're not going to do any hand seals?" he asked. "I wanted to see some so-called ninjutsu."
The ninja looked at the man who was quite possibly the strongest human he had ever met in his life. He exhaled, and with a flick of his wrist, he threw a black sphere.
Kaito tilted his head just two centimeters to the side, and the sphere missed him by a hair's breadth.
POP!
A cloud of black smoke exploded, enveloping Kaito. The ninja instantly charged into the smoke, sword first. A ninja was one who endured all extreme environments to assassinate their target.
Kaito frowned. The rhythm of his breathing had been disrupted. The smoke bomb was laced with some kind of irritant. He tapped his foot and shot backward out of the smoke, but in the next instant, a cold feeling struck him from behind.
Kaito's waist suddenly bent, his upper body folding forward, as he kicked his right foot backward like a venomous dragon.
Thwack!