The night was deep; Kanbe Hikaru's figure swept through the mountains and forests, heading toward the next target.
The red comb in his embrace was vibrating, more violently than ever before.
"Hey."
Yura of the Hair's voice came from the comb: "Those things you said just now... were you serious?"
"Which words?"
"That is... saying that I also killed the thunder beast."
Kanbe Hikaru did not slow his pace.
"It wasn't just polite talk."
He said it very directly: "Without your hair conducting the current, I couldn't have killed that thunder beast."
At a time like this, of course, he had to take the opportunity to 'conquer' her.
Kanbe Hikaru was very familiar with this.
He had also more or less figured out the personality of this comb demon — she was indeed cold-blooded, and as a Tsukumogami, she fundamentally had no blood.
But at the same time, she was also a tsundere.
As a demon transformed from a comb that had been left aside for many long years, she actually longed for attention.
Sure enough.
Silence.
The skull on the comb turned, as if digesting those words.
"Hmph."
Yura of the Hair's voice became awkward: "In other words... I am stronger than those useless people in Kyoto?"
"At least stronger than that thunder beast."
Kanbe Hikaru replied smoothly: "Because it is dead, and you are still alive."
Silence again.
But this silence carried a hint of subtlety.
[Yura of the Hair: Favorability +2]
[Current Favorability: 1 (Budding Favor/No longer hostile)]
[It feels for the first time that being held by you isn't too bad.]
Kanbe Hikaru looked at the prompt on the panel.
It finally turned positive.
Although it was only 1 point, at least it was no longer a negative number.
This guy really was a sucker for praise.
"Don't get cocky."
Yura of the Hair's voice rang out again, with a hint of tsundere: "I just don't want to let those guys in Kyoto have an easy time."
"When I recover, you will be the first one I settle scores with."
Kanbe Hikaru did not respond.
He just tucked the comb deeper into his chest and continued on his way.
In the chaotic Sengoku period, a thunder beast wreaked havoc in Suruga Province. It was a servant of the ancient Thunder God, lying in wait beneath the castle for three days, summoning lightning, killing countless people and destroying property; people of that time feared it.
There was a ghost warrior named Kanbe Hikaru, whose bones and blood were like a forest, who slew it beneath his blade.
The Imagawa Lord enshrined him in a shrine.
He is the Demon who severed the lightning.
Raikiri.
"Strange Tales of Suruga Province
Meanwhile.
Kaede Village.
Kikyo stood on the watchtower at the entrance of the village, longbow in hand.
The night wind blew her black hair; her white robe and red hakama were distinct under the moonlight.
Her gaze looked toward the west.
There, something was dissipating.
"The fluctuation of spiritual power... has weakened."
She murmured.
The west was the direction of the Imagawa Clan, and also the direction Kanbe Hikaru had set out toward.
That thick, restless Demonic Qi of lightning was disappearing bit by bit at this moment.
Like an extinguished flame.
Like — a dead demon.
"He succeeded?"
Kikyo's brows relaxed slightly.
But the next second, her expression became solemn again.
Because she sensed another Demonic Qi.
In the north.
That was the direction of the Venomous Flood Dragon.
And in the south.
In the east.
In three directions, three streams of Demonic Qi were still stirring restlessly.
"Coming one by one, are they..."
She looked toward the darkness in the distance.
Hikaru should be on his way to the next target by now, right?
I hope his operation goes smoothly.
In the meantime, Kikyo looked outside the village and saw that beyond the shrine's Barrier shrouding the village—ghostly shadows were flickering, and demons stood thick and dense.
Even more were visible.
The demonic wind was howling, spreading for miles!
Kanbe Hikaru was right.
Everyone has their own area of expertise.
Assassination and decapitation—Kanbe Hikaru is suited for that.
But for defense and holding the line, Kikyo—who excels at wielding spiritual power, casting spells, and constructing Barriers—is the true choice for staying behind.
The black-haired priestess's expression tightened.
Although she was alone as always.
But this time, she did not feel the loneliness of the past.
There was only waiting.
And, anticipation.
Thus, here.
The priestess drew her bow and notched an arrow.
Waiting for enough demons to gather outside.
And then.
Boom—
An arrow flew out, and hundreds of demons were shattered once again, turning into flying ash across the sky—completely purified by pure spiritual power.
...
At this moment, Kanbe Hikaru was indeed still on his way.
He used [Phantom Step] continuously, his figure like a phantom.
From the Imagawa Clan to the Hojo Clan's territory, the straight-line distance is about 180 li.
For an ordinary person, this distance would take at least several days of travel.
For him, however, it only takes two hours.
But he did not intend to go in a straight line.
[Spiritual Perception], activated.
The talent he had obtained from the shikon no tama: naohi allowed him to perceive the flow of spiritual power once again.
But this time, what he perceived was no longer just the simple veins of the world, but the resonance extending outward from the item already in his hands, and that faint repulsion toward spiritual power.
The Demonic Qi extending from the Thunder Beast's horn.
As demons all summoned by Kyoto, since they wanted to besiege Kaede Village, there must be some connection between them, more or less.
And at this moment—
Kanbe Hikaru did indeed perceive it.
Three faint, ethereal connections.
Like thin threads and veins.
His target was also very clear... it was to the southeast of the Imagawa Clan, south of Kaede Village in Musashi Province, and also the location of the Hojo Clan's headquarters, a region called 'Sagami Province' that borders both Suruga Province and Musashi Province.
In the meantime, the voice of Yura of the Hair sounded again, becoming serious and solemn.
"The demon boss you are approaching should be that Gakimaru."
"It is to the south."
"Your choice is very correct. That guy is closer to you than the Venomous Flood Dragon in the north and the Cat Demon in the east."
"However, I have said that the guy is good at illusions. Although it is not as troublesome as the Thunder Beast to me, it might actually be harder for you to deal with than the Thunder Beast."
"Because that guy is better at hiding than the Thunder Beast."
"It is hard to say exactly; you will know once you see it."
Hearing this, Kanbe Hikaru did not stop for even a second.
He only spoke:
"As long as it is there, I will always be able to find it."
"Let us go and meet that big moth."
A hundred-mile raid.
Kanbe Hikaru's speed became faster and faster.
Bone Spikes emerged from the soles of his feet, catapulting him forward.
Every time he landed, he covered a distance of a hundred zhang.
Blood mist seeped out from under his skin, leaving faint red traces in the air.
That was his mark, and also his eyes.
Wherever he passed, it was within his range of perception.
"What are you setting up?"
Yura of the Hair's voice came from his bosom.
"A way out."
Kanbe Hikaru did not explain further.
He just continued moving forward.
Target—Gakimaru.
That giant moth demon that could release confusing scales.
Yura of the Hair did indeed say that it was a demon extremely skilled in illusions; as long as one was hit by its scales, one would fall into an eternal nightmare.
But Kanbe Hikaru actually had more or less an impression of demons with similar names; it seemed that, like the Thunder Beast, it was a demon race of the same name that had also appeared in the original work.
But that did not matter.
No matter what it was, tonight, he would definitely cut it down!
Boom!
Thunder roared and roared again.
He accelerated.
His figure merged into the night and disappeared among the mountains.
Only the spreading blood mist remained, slowly dissipating under the moonlight.
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