As soon as Ganyu met my eyes, she made a briefly puzzled expression, but soon recognized that calming the situation took priority and aimed her bow towards the outside of the village.
Silently, I drew my sword energy and rushed in the opposite direction of where Ganyu aimed her bow.
Did the Lord of Geo leave a few adepti behind?
Thanks to that, I could save Giyeon.
Leaping towards the demons, I brandished my sword in all directions.
The sword energy cut through the demons' flesh and bone as if slicing leaves, scattering a pungent scent of blood everywhere.
They were merely thrusting and swinging motions, but movements flowing along the path of a sword dance were never just simple actions.
Sometimes riding the wind. Sometimes defying the wind.
Dozens of demons were swept away with a single sword stroke.
As I began to flow along the sword dance path, I suddenly realized I was performing a sword dance.
Simply chasing the visible sword dance path, each of my movements had unknowingly become movements that formed a sword dance.
My sword, emitting a faint blue light under the moonlight and starlight, tracing curves and straight lines.
The crimson blood of the demons, eroded by the sword's blue light, turned purple.
The battlefield that had been raging with blood had unknowingly become a beautiful training ground dyed purple.
Thrust.
Swing.
Spin.
Thrust again.
Swing again.
Thrust.
Thrust again.
How many demons began to roll on the ground like that?
Finally, a certain realization began to tickle my mind.
Thrust.
Thrust again.
It feels within reach.
I can create it.
My first technique!
My skill!
I dance the sword dance.
My mind gradually calms.
The skill becomes visible.
Thrust.
Thrust. Thrust. Thrust. Thrust. Thrust. Thrust again.
Half a step.
My
step
"Over there. Can you hear me?"
I was snapped out of my state of no-mind.
Ah.
Ahh.
Ahhhhhh!
I missed the enlightenment!
Missing it by half a step again!
Half a step. It was just half a step!
Who dares to disrupt a martial artist's enlightenment!
With boiling anger, I twisted my face like a ferocious deity and turned my head towards the direction of the voice.
The attire was different. But the face was certain.
Ganyu. It was Ganyu.
Ganyu, who had spoken to me, saw my expression and her face colored with fluster.
"Um... are you alright?"
"...I am fine. For a moment."
Struggling to suppress my anger, I sat down on the spot.
Enlightenment doesn't always come.
So I must remember this sensation.
Thrusting.
My first technique will be 'Thrust'.
I closed my eyes and deeply engraved the memory from moments ago into my mind.
"...You seem tired. Please come to the village once you've calmed down."
As I sat down and began to meditate, Ganyu waited briefly before making footsteps towards the village.
...What a pity.
It was truly... just half a step.
Half a step always holds me back...
I awoke from meditation and stood up.
Unknowingly, I was standing atop the corpses of hundreds of demons.
As if sitting on a throne piled with corpses.
This makes me look like some kind of celestial demon.
Shuddering, I jumped off the corpses and shook off a few drops of blood.
The village...
Fortunately, it was intact.
Using my footwork technique, I leaped towards the village.
As I surveyed my surroundings, Giyeon came into view.
Using the Thousand-Catty Fall, I began to descend at high speed and soon landed before Giyeon.
"Are you injured?"
"Ah! Uncle!"
Uncle...
...Right. My age is now around 100.
It's a wonder I'm not called grandfather.
"I'm not hurt! What about you, Uncle?"
"Do I look injured to you?"
Patting Giyeon's head, I sensed footsteps approaching from behind.
"Thank you for protecting the village. To think such a thing would happen while the Lord of Geo, the Subduer of Demons, and the other adepti were away..."
A gentle voice, tinged with a certain kindness, tickled my heightened senses.
"...Not at all. I was too flustered earlier to give my greetings properly."
As we exchanged greetings, Giyeon began frantically tapping my leg.
"A-Ade... Adeptus...?!"
I know, kid.
Seeing Giyeon like that, Ganyu smiled softly and spoke.
"You are a benevolent illuminated beast. May I ask for your name?"
...?
Illuminated beast?
Could it be... she's referring to me?
With a dumbfounded expression, I asked in return.
"Are you... speaking of me?"
"...? Yes. Are you not an illuminated beast? Hm... The Subduer of Demons didn't mention there being another adeptus..."
...Oh dear.
"I apologize, but I am not an illuminated beast. I am merely a humble human."
"...Pardon? Ah... Is there some circumstance?"
"No. I am truly human."
To prevent further misunderstanding, I made a martial arts salute and bowed my head.
"This lowly one is named Gawain. I pay my respects to the adeptus."
At my polite greeting, Ganyu stared at me blankly for a moment before murmuring.
"That can't be... How can a human's energy be so..."
My appearance and energy after undergoing the transformation should be that of an ordinary person... Can she tell from an adeptus's perspective?
It must differ in density from typical human energy.
After all, it's energy accumulated tirelessly for 80 years.
Ganyu's pupils were shaking violently with confusion.
"This... I think I need to ask the Subduer of Demons about this. First, thank you for protecting the village, and well done."
"Not at all. Had you, the adeptus, not come, I could not have saved everyone."
In response to my answer, Ganyu gave a slight smile, a ray of bright moonlight falling upon her face.
Under the moonlight shining on her blue hair, it was as if a single blue flower was blooming.
"The Lord of Geo and the other adepti who heard the news are rushing here. They will probably arrive around sunrise tomorrow."
"...Did they not head for Qingce?"
"You know of the illuminated beast of Qingce? Yes. They did go to receive the illuminated beast of Qingce, but not to wage a full-scale war. The illuminated beast of Qingce also has many subjects under its command."
...Subjects, you say?
"Then, perhaps these demons' actions are also..."
"Ah. No one can control demons. They are creatures born from the remnants of fallen illuminated beasts, a kind of condensed lingering resentment, so no one can easily command them."
...Fascinating. So 3000 years ago was a world teeming with such things.
I sheathed my sword and looked down at Giyeon.
Having seen a real adeptus seemed to be quite overwhelming, as she stood motionless with her mouth agape.
Following the moonlight, I moved my gaze and scanned the panorama of the Guili Plains.
It's gruesome.
The land covered in blood and flesh is far too gruesome.
...For heaven's sake.
Left like this, insects and plagues will surely fester.
I drew my Noctilucous Jade sword again.
As I drew my sword, Ganyu looked at me with wide eyes.
"That is... why?"
"Because it's unsightly. Could you cover Giyeon's eyes for a moment?"
It's night, so it won't be clearly visible, but still.
At my request, Ganyu carefully covered Giyeon's eyes.
Giyeon accepted the gesture without any resistance.
...What a sly one. For a fellow female.
I ignited sword energy, wove sword aura, and drew sword force from the tip of my blade.
A single strand of drawn sword force condensed like dew on the sword's tip.
It's some distance from the village, and it's not the Compressed Sword Sphere, so it shouldn't harm the village.
With a short shout, I brandished the sword with the condensed sword force.
CRACKCRACKCRACKCRACK
SHUKAKAKAKAKAK
Along with a strange sound of roaring and cutting noises heard simultaneously, the ground and corpses began to scatter into pieces.
A space roughly 2 *jang* in width and length was completely swept away by the slash.
One *jang* is about 3 meters. An incredibly vast area had been carved out.
Upon contact with the ground, the sword force ground the earth and corpses, creating a massive pit.
As if a bomb had exploded, Ganyu seemed quite taken aback.
Now just to finish up.
Using footwork, I leaped and, with sword force, swept the blood and flesh fragments that hadn't yet fallen into the pit, accurately tossing them into the huge hole.
Then I spun my sword and struck the ground with the broad side of the sword force.
The earth was smoothed.
The ground, trimmed with the sharp edge of the giant Noctilucous Jade sword, had now regained its former appearance.
The mass burial was complete.
The other areas... I should do them too.
I sheathed my sword and looked back.
"It is done. Please go ahead to the village. I will finish disposing of the other demon corpses and then come. Leaving them like this will attract insects and plague."
"Ah... yes."
With that conversation ended, I leaped towards the other corpses.
----------
Morning gradually dawned.
The adeptus called Ganyu was sitting cautiously on the Guili Plains, waiting for someone.
No. More precisely.
It was for some'ones'.
There were beings flying from the direction of Qingce at tremendous speed.
And each of these beings had a distinctive appearance.
A deer with flaming red horns attached to its head, galloping through the void.
Similarly, a majestic blue deer running fiercely beside it, using the void as its ground.
A crane with feathers mixing jade and white covering its body.
A crane with red and white feathers on its body, emitting a mysterious energy.
A blue-haired woman holding a spear, charging below at incredible speed.
And beside her was a giant bear running, igniting small embers along its path.
And the two figures leading this strange group.
Surprisingly, they possessed human forms.
A man with a deep white hood and, flying alongside him, a woman with deep gray hair and a mysterious aura.
Seeing those two figures, Ganyu's eyes lit up and she finally stood up.
「Ganyu.」
As the white-hooded man spoke while descending to the ground, the earth began to resonate as if echoing.
「I heard demons invaded the Guili settlement. Of all times, the yakshas were subjugating demons elsewhere.」
"Yes, my lord. But while there are injuries, there are no deaths."
「...Is that so.」
"Really??"
Before the white-hooded man's words even finished, the woman with the mysterious aura beside him interjected.
"You've worked hard, Ganyu~ Did I raise Liu Yun well?"
As the mysterious woman spoke.
"Hmph. Of course."
Surprisingly, the crane with jade and white feathers answered.
「...Guizhong.」
As the white-hooded man spoke in an exasperated tone, the woman called Guizhong said.
"Morax. The talks at Qingce are already over. Ease up on the power in your voice now."
「...Haa.」
As the man sighed, as if his breath carried energy, the earth's resonant ringing stopped.
"Xiao Yue, Liu Yun, Li Shu, Xiao Suo, Jia Zhen. You too. Humans might see you, how long will you stay so imposing? Look. Marchosius has already made himself comfortable."
The giant bear had now transformed into the form of a small, burning bear.
"...So. Well done, Ganyu. It seems you've already cleaned up?"
"Ah... about that, I have something to report."
Opening her mouth, Ganyu began to explain in detail about the 'peculiar human' she had witnessed.
"...He did that with just one sword? A human?"
As Ganyu's explanation ended, Liu Yun, the Subduer of Demons, spoke in astonishment.
"...No. First, we should doubt whether he's even human to begin with."
Xiao Yue, the Deer of Solar Essence, who had been pondering something after hearing Ganyu's explanation, spoke.
At those words, Li Shu, the Mountain-Folding Stag, nodded in agreement.
"...That would be it. Could he perhaps be an adeptus we are unaware of?"
"Too slim. Adepti aren't beings that can just suddenly appear out of nowhere."
"Then that means... he could be an illuminated beast hiding its form."
A momentary silence fell.
"...That seems too speculative. Why would an illuminated beast hide its form like that and save humans?"
Jia Zhen, the Wolf of the Western Winds, spoke, driving the spear in her hand into the ground.
"Indeed. And to call someone an illuminated beast just for killing a few hundred demons."
Xiao Suo, the Sky-Soaring Falcon, scoffed and spoke, causing the adepti's inconclusive discussion to return to square one.
Marchosius, who had been quietly stoking flames, had already headed towards the village to help the injured.
Watching this quietly, Guizhong, between Morax and herself, was the first to interject.
"Regardless, you're saying that person possesses power far surpassing that of a human, right Ganyu?"
"Ah... yes. That's how it appeared."
"Hmm. Then why don't we all think positively?"
Guizhong said, fluttering her long sleeves.
"Because of the illuminated beasts existing everywhere, we are already splitting our insufficient forces. Yatta is currently alone on the front line confronting an illuminated beast. Moreover, the demons crawling from the remains of illuminated beasts we've fought are attacking humans, so the yakshas are already active. This incident made us realize that to protect humans, we must split our forces further, right?"
"Guizhong. That means."
"Right, Morax. The fewer enemies the better, and the more allies the better, no?"
With an enigmatic smile, Guizhong finally said.
"How about recruiting that 'peculiar human' to our side?"