Akari walked, and the fog began to surround her. It seemed to be trying to confuse her sense of direction. However, Akari quickly realized it was caused by a barrier. While she wondered if she should destroy it, she heard a voice.
"Follow me. I know the way to the exit." Akari narrowed her eyes. The voice had the power to induce an illusion. Its power was insignificant for her, but for a normal human, it was enough to trick.
Akari didn't sense much demonic power, so she thought it must be a demon with little power, at most a half-demon. She decided to pretend to be deceived and follow it. She needed to know if there were many of them and what their intentions were.
Akari followed him, but at the same time, she extended her spiritual power to find an entrance into the barrier. Akari walked for a while before she suddenly stopped.
The voice seemed confused and said. "Why aren't you following me? Don't worry, we are almost there." Akari chuckled and said.
"Yes, we are." Before the demon could react. It was grabbed by the neck.
The fog disappeared from her surroundings, and Akari walked toward a place, dragging the little rabbit demon with her. He was really weak, and Akari felt he only had one-fifth demon blood.
"What are you doing?! Who are you?!" Akari didn't answer. She reached the spot she wanted and pierced it with her dagger. The barrier broke in that spot and allowed her to enter.
Inside the barrier, Akari observed her surroundings and was surprised to see traces of life around the mountain. She sensed several people here with demon blood, even if only a small amount.
The people were surprised to see her and asked her.
"Who are you? How did you get in?" Akari ignored them and put the dagger to the neck of the rabbit demon, saying.
"Where are the other humans that you have kidnapped?" The little demon was pale with fear and stuttered.
"I-I don't know..." Akari increased the strength in her hand and said.
"I won't repeat myself. Where are the humans?" The little demon was almost crying and said.
"I really don't know. Brother! Brother! Please save me!" Akari saw he had enough energy to scream, and she was about to hit him when she heard a voice above her.
"What's going on? Why are you making so much noise, Takeshi?" Akari looked in the direction of the voice, and she was astonished for a second.
It wasn't just because the man in front of her was very handsome. What surprised her most was that she could sense that this man was a full demon.
"Hmm? A human? How did you get here?" Akari came to her senses with his words while she furrowed her brow. It was worse than she expected.
"Leave now. This is no place for humans. Forget what you saw." His words were followed by a spell, which Akari broke with a wave of her hand.
The man raised his brow in surprise and Akari said.
"Demon, do you ask me how I got here? You have to ask your brother." Akari daggered the little demon to the neck and said.
"He lured me here with illusions. He seemed very skilled in that. So I'm going to ask once: where are the other humans you lured here?" The man gazed at the little demons for a second before saying.
"I don't know what you are talking about. There are no humans here. And I'm going to say it just one more time: go away." Akari chuckled.
"What happens if I refuse?" The man laughed.
"I'll have to do it by force." At that moment, the man quickly attacked her. Akari kicked the little demon, smashing him against a nearby rock, and she drew her sword, stopping the fist that was heading toward her.
Akari smiled when she saw his eyes opening in surprise, and with her spiritual energy, she made him forcefully retreat.
The people around them were incredibly surprised and said.
"How could this be possible? Shunji is not like us."
"Yeah, he is a full demon, the strongest of all. How could he be driven back by a simple human?"
"Perhaps she isn't just a simple human..."
"Yeah, I heard legends from my grandparents. They talked about special humans that were capable of defeating demons."
"So, is she a priestess?"
"But aren't they already extinct?"
Akari heard the words of the people around her, and she was speechless in this world, she seemed to be a kind of legend. She suddenly felt old.
"Yeah, you are right. I'm a priestess, so it's better if you tell me where the missing humans are. Otherwise, I will have to do what priestesses used to do with demons in ancient times: purify them."
They seemed intimidated, and Akari smiled. She wasn't joking at all. The only reason she was still asking them questions was that she didn't feel any negative energy from any of them, which means they had never hurt a human being. It was true, even for the full demon in front of her.
"Let's see if that's possible." He said before he moved toward her and truck where she was standing.
Akari avoided his attack and thought she couldn't be easy on him. He wasn't like the others. He had a lot of demonic energy, so Akari didn't dare let her guard down, and she was also grateful that she had been cautious and brought her sword and bow just in case.
In just a few minutes, the two exchanged dozens of blows. The people below them seemed to be immersed in the fight, but Akari was planning what to do. He was very strong and resilient, like all demons, but it was obvious that he lacked combat experience, especially against a priestess like her. Sometimes he could barely avoid her spiritual energy. That's why, before he got used to it, Akari planned to defeat him.
She moved backward and threw containment parchment. While he was dealing with it, she shot an arrow, and he barely managed to dodge it, so the spiritual energy cut his cheek, leaving him stunned for a few seconds. In that moment of distraction, he failed to see the rosary that Akari had thrown at him, and when he tried to dodge it, it was too late—it had already stuck to him.
Akari had created a rosary with a function similar to the one Inuyasha had. The difference was that she didn't need a command word, and the rosary was specially made to contain the demonic energy of the opponent. That's why the demon fell powerless to the ground.
Akari pointed her sword at him and said.
"It's enough, isn't it, demon?" He looked at her with anger, but Akari ignored his gaze and said.
"My patience is running out. I'll give you until I count to three to be honest, or else you'll see." He stayed silent.
"One." The people around her seemed nervous and about to intervene, but they were intimidated by Akari, so they didn't move.
"Two." He was still silent.
"And..." A shout interrupted her suddenly.
"Wait!" Akari looked at the source of the voice. It was the little rabbit demon. He couldn't move, because of her kick but also because she had put a restriction on his movement.
"Are you ready to talk, little demon?" He nodded, and Akari lowered her sword.
"Talk."