Chapter 6: A Feast for Demons
The night outside the cave was quiet—unnervingly so. The usual chorus of crickets and night birds had fallen silent, as if the forest itself was holding its breath.
Hikaru had not taken ten steps from the entrance before a strange sensation stopped him in his tracks.
It was the Shikon Jewel.
It was glowing.
The thumb-sized bead, tucked away in his bosom, was now emitting a faint purple light that pulsed through its cloth wrapping. The glow was soft, yet it was impossible to conceal. It pierced through the rough linen, through the tattered remnants of his armor, and shone like a lantern in the oppressive darkness.
No, it was far more conspicuous than any lantern.
This light was suffused with a unique aura—a volatile mixture of pure spiritual power and raw Yao Qi. To a human, this energy might manifest as an indescribable sense of awe or mystery.
But to a demon, it was meat.
A fragrant, glowing, succulent piece of meat that would make any demon in the vicinity drool with insatiable hunger.
"Damn it."
Hikaru cursed under his breath, the realization dawning on him far too late. He should have considered this. The reason those demons had been hunting the jewel wasn't just because of its legend; it was a massive, pulsating signal source. As long as it existed and remained unsealed, it would continuously broadcast its potent aura into the night.
It was an eternal bonfire, beckoning every moth—every demon—within a radius of dozens of miles.
"Heh—"
A low, guttural roar echoed from the distance.
Hikaru's gaze snapped toward the sound. At the edge of the woods, a sea of eyes ignited in the darkness. They burned with malevolent light—red, green, yellow, purple—a dense, shifting constellation of predators. And they were moving, converging on his position with terrifying speed.
"Here they come again."
Hikaru's left thumb pressed against the tsuba of his sword, his body sinking into a low, stable stance. The system panel materialized in his vision automatically.
[Detected a large number of hostile targets approaching.]
[Demon Blade Muramasa: Mood has shifted to 'Excited'. It conveys a message to you: 'Time to eat again.']
"Your attitude is certainly positive," Hikaru muttered, the corner of his mouth twitching.
Before the words had fully left his lips, the first wave of demons burst from the treeline. Leading the charge were three One-eyed Demons. Each stood over ten feet tall, with a single, massive eyeball dominating its face. Their skin was the color of rusted iron, and they brandished thick, crude iron clubs.
"Found him!" the leading One-eyed Demon bellowed, its voice a triumphant roar. "The Shikon Jewel is on that Oni Samurai!"
"Seize it!"
The three behemoths stomped down in unison. The earth beneath their feet cracked and exploded as their immense bodies charged forward, three mountains of flesh intent on crushing him.
Hikaru did not retreat. The body of an Oni Samurai knew no fear, and he certainly wouldn't be intimidated by this level of brute force. He simply watched, his gaze calm and analytical, searching for an opening in their clumsy assault.
The leader's club was raised the highest, swinging in a wide arc that exposed the gap beneath its armpit.
That's it.
Hikaru's Yao Qi surged, coiling around his feet.
[Ghost Step].
His figure blurred, vanishing from where he stood. In the next instant, he reappeared to the left of the lead demon.
He drew his blade.
A streak of black light flashed from bottom to top, the edge of Muramasa sinking precisely into the exposed armpit.
Clang—!
The sound of steel shearing through flesh and bone was sickeningly loud. The blade tore through the demon's armpit, traveled upward to split its shoulder blade, and finally erupted from the side of its neck. The single slash had nearly severed its entire left arm, along with half of its torso.
The One-eyed Demon's massive eye widened in shock. Before a scream could even form in its throat, its colossal body crashed to the ground with a world-shaking thud.
"Big Brother!"
The remaining two demons froze for a split second, their shock quickly boiling over into an even greater, more frenzied rage. Two iron clubs, one from the left and one from the right, smashed down in a pincer attack meant to pulverize him.
Hikaru didn't bother dodging. Instead, he tilted his body forward and slid low across the ground, passing clean through the narrow gap between the two descending clubs. They slammed into empty space, gouging two massive craters in the earth.
He was already behind the demon on the right.
With a fluid backhand strike, he plunged Muramasa into the back of its knee. The tip of the blade punched straight through, unleashing a geyser of dark blood. The demon's leg buckled, and it fell to one knee with a howl of pain.
Before it could even begin to react, Hikaru had already leaped onto its broad back, his blade swinging in a clean, horizontal arc.
A heavy, wet thud followed as the demon's head hit the ground.
Seeing its two brothers fall in seconds, the third One-eyed Demon's rage evaporated into pure terror. It turned to flee.
Hikaru leaped from the fresh corpse, his left hand flashing through a series of seals.
"Sorcery: Will-o'-the-Wisp."
A ball of eerie, blue-white flame shot from his palm, striking the fleeing demon squarely in the back. The flames exploded on impact, and the creature fell to the ground with a miserable, agonized scream. Hikaru walked over calmly and dispatched it with a single, final strike.
Three One-eyed Demons, dead in less than thirty breaths.
[Demon Blade Muramasa: Favorability +1]
[Current Favorability: 28]
But this was only the beginning.
More eyes were emerging from the woods. Blue-skinned Oni, serpentine demons with human torsos, grotesque centipede spirits, and monsters with the heads of carrion birds. There were even stranger, hybrid demons whose names Hikaru didn't know. They swarmed out of the darkness, a writhing tide of flesh and fang that quickly surrounded him.
"It's him!" a familiar voice snarled from the demonic horde.
Hikaru's eyes followed the sound. It was the same group of demons that had been hunting the old man earlier—or what was left of them. Their leader was a Blue-skinned Oni, but it was a head taller than the others, its hide covered in a layer of coarse, dark scales. This was clearly their chieftain.
"It's this Oni Samurai who stole the Shikon Jewel!" the chieftain bellowed, pointing a clawed finger at Hikaru for all the other demons to see. "Kill him! The Shikon Jewel is ours!"
"It's ours!"
The response was a world-shaking roar as the entire horde erupted in a frenzy of greed.
Hikaru scanned his surroundings, his gaze sweeping over the sea of monstrous faces. A rough estimate put their numbers at over two hundred. This wave was even larger than the one that had besieged the cave. The allure of the Shikon Jewel was truly no joke; it had drawn in every demon from the surrounding mountains.
"You really are a trouble magnet," he muttered, his right hand tightening its grip on Muramasa's hilt.
The Shikon Jewel in his breast pocket continued to emit its soft purple glow, completely unresponsive to his complaint.
[Shikon Jewel: Current state 'Dormant'. Favorability cannot be unlocked.]
It wouldn't even give him the courtesy of a reply. This thing was even harder to please than his sword.
"Fine, then."
Hikaru let out a slow breath. He looked up at the encircling demons, his inverted black-and-white eyes holding no trace of fear, only a cold, deep indifference.
"Since you all insist on delivering yourselves to my door..."
He raised his blade. The steel gleamed under the moonlight, its hamon pattern shimmering with a faint, predatory purple light.
"...then don't blame me for being ruthless."
The demonic horde seemed to hesitate for a moment, momentarily intimidated by his aura. But greed, potent and all-consuming, quickly overrode their fear.
"Attack together!" the Blue-skinned Oni chieftain commanded.
At his signal, over two hundred demons charged as one.
Hikaru met them head-on.
Carving a bloody path through the tide was his only choice.
Amidst the cacophony of snarls and the hum of his own blade, Hikaru swung Muramasa again, and again, and again.
Slash. Cleave. And slash again.
[Favorability: 30]
[Unlocked Trait: Resonance with Blood]
[Unlocked Bond Dialogue (2): It tells you that it is very satisfied with today's meal and reveals a secret—its creator was a swordsmith named 'Muramasa', and every blade that man forged carries a 'Bloodthirsty' curse.]
[Within your line of sight, all blood shall become your 'eyes', allowing you to connect with blood and dance with slaughter!]
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