It detected the anomaly behind it, and it also saw Kobe Hikaru.
The gazes of the two Oni Samurai met across the battlefield.
Behind the Hannya mask, cold killing intent burned within a pair of ashen eyes.
"You!"
The One-Horned Oni finally noticed the commotion on the flank. It pointed at the Hannya Mask Oni Samurai and roared, "Go kill that traitor!"
The Hannya Mask Oni Samurai didn't speak, merely tightening its grip on the rust-covered tachi in its hand.
Then, its figure vanished from its spot.
At the same time, Kobe Hikaru felt a dangerous aura.
It wasn't sensed through the blood mist.
It was instinct.
The instinct of one Oni Samurai for another.
He stepped aside.
A flash of a blade swept through the spot where he had been standing, leaving a deep gouge in the ground.
The Hannya Mask Oni Samurai stood five paces away, the rusty blade in its hand still dripping blood.
It was Kobe Hikaru's own blood.
A gash had been cut into his left shoulder, and faint gray smoke rose from the wound—a trace of Demonic Qi erosion.
"A yokai, yet helping humans kill yokai?"
The Hannya Mask Oni Samurai spoke, its voice as raspy as if it had crawled out of a grave.
Kobe Hikaru did not answer.
He simply gripped his muramasa tightly and lowered his center of gravity.
He knew the opponent before him was different.
Stronger than all the small fry he had killed before, this was an existence that had achieved at least the Six Transformations of Physical Transformation.
The Six Transformations was already the pinnacle of 'Physical Transformation,' possessing Six Transformations vastly different from normal biological beings.
Whereas he only had five transformations; the gap was obvious.
But—
With Kikyo providing support, he naturally wouldn't let this opportunity pass.
He just didn't know if Kikyo could spare the focus right now... those three high-level yokai were attacking the Barrier again, and she was continuing to repair the cracks they had blasted open.
In other words—at least for a short period, he might have no long-range support.
"Then... I'll just have to hold out on my own."
Since he had already made his move, there was nothing to hesitate about.
It was nothing more than a battle.
He had already experienced so much on the path he had walked.
Living on the edge of a blade, expecting one hundred percent safety was absolutely impossible.
Opportunity always goes hand-in-hand with danger.
At least this time, he wasn't alone. There was someone behind him, helping him.
That was enough!
"Come on!"
Volume 1: Chapter 12 - The Oni Samurai Who Took an Arrow to the Knee, naohi's Warning (Revised)
Two blades collided in mid-air.
Sparks flew in all directions.
One was a mass-produced version of the famous blade muramasa, while the other looked covered in rust, but the result was—Kobe Hikaru, holding the muramasa, was shaken back three steps, his palms numbed by the impact.
The power gap was too large.
The Hannya Mask Oni Samurai's Six Transformations were not for show; every transformation caused a qualitative leap in a yokai's basic attributes.
And clearly, at least two of the opponent's transformations were manifested in strength enhancement—otherwise, Kobe Hikaru, who possessed the 'Archer Transformation' and similarly boosted arm strength, wouldn't have been unable to block it.
In a battle between the same type of yokai, even a difference of a single transformation resulted in a world of difference in actual combat power.
"Is this all you've got?"
The Hannya Mask Oni Samurai's voice came from behind the mask, laced with obvious mockery. "To think you dared to sneak in here; you really have a death wish."
It swung its blade again.
This strike was faster and heavier than the last.
Kobe Hikaru barely managed to parry, his arms shaken to the point of near-dislocation.
His body flew backward, his feet skidding several meters across the ground before he could barely stabilize himself.
The Hannya Mask Oni Samurai gave a cold laugh, and its figure suddenly vanished.
So fast!
This wasn't pure speed, but the propulsion generated by an instantaneous burst of leg muscle—this guy's legs clearly had a transformation as well.
Kobe Hikaru's pupils constricted as his [Sharp Eye Transformation], obtained from a max-affinity dagger, frantically tracked the afterimages in the air.
The left!
He instinctively raised his blade to block.
But—the next second.
The Hannya Mask Oni Samurai's sword-swinging arm suddenly let out a crisp "crack," the wrist joint snapping out of place and then visibly stretching and surging forward!
The arm, which was originally of normal length, actually grew by three feet out of thin air!
Cartilage extension.
This sudden extension caused its attack range to instantly exceed Kobe Hikaru's predictions.
The long blade bypassed the muramasa's parry line, lashing toward Kobe Hikaru's ribs like a venomous snake.
"Shit!"
Kobe Hikaru gritted his teeth and activated [Spear-Waist Transformation], his upper body folding backward in a posture absolutely impossible for a human.
Extremely strong, extremely resilient, bending like a flexible spear shaft.
Sshhh—
The rusty blade grazed his breastplate. The moment that seemingly hard, tattered armor touched the turbid energy on the blade, it hissed and smoked like it had been splashed with concentrated acid, rapidly rotting and softening.
A piercing pain shot through him.
Kobe Hikaru rolled to the side in disarray, kneeling on one leg.
A scorched, black scar had appeared on his chest.
[demon blade muramasa: Mood 'Terrified.' It says there's poisonous gas on that rusty blade that will dull it; it doesn't want to touch that thing!]
"Shut up, I don't want to touch it either."
Kobe Hikaru spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.
It was yokai blood; unlike the red of humans, it appeared a murky grayish-black.
He quickly organized the information he had gathered from these few exchanges—
At least two transformations in the arms, causing a surge in strength.
One transformation in the legs, providing incredible speed.
A poison transformation from body to blood, corroding on contact.
A bone transformation that extends the body, making the attack range unpredictable.
And those eyes; light occasionally flashed in the ashen pupils, clearly another transformation.
Six Transformations.
It was almost a perfect counter to his Five Transformations.
What was even more troublesome was that Kikyo couldn't spare any help right now.
From the direction of the distant Barrier, three loud booms echoed in succession.
The One-Horned Oni's spiked club, the giant python's poisonous mist, and the Three-Eyed Crow's demonic light attacked simultaneously, and cracks appeared in the Barrier once more.
Kikyo was putting everything into the repairs.
Her spiritual power was still abundant, but her physical strength was being consumed at an accelerated rate—repairing the Barrier, purifying with arrows, and covering Kobe Hikaru; fighting on three fronts was already her limit.
Now, with the addition of the three high-level yokai's frantic attacks, she simply couldn't spare a hand to help over here.
Kobe Hikaru knew this.
So he didn't count on Kikyo's support.
In this battle at least, he could only rely on himself.
"Interesting."
The Hannya Mask Oni Samurai raised its rusty blade, and a thick Demonic Qi erupted from the blade's surface.
"It's been a long time since I've encountered one of my own kind."
"Let me see if your bones are hard enough."
It charged forward.
Kobe Hikaru met the charge.
Not because he was confident he would win.
But because he had no way to retreat.
If he retreated, the Hannya Mask Oni Samurai would turn to attack the Barrier.
If four high-level yokai attacked together, the Barrier would absolutely not hold.
He had to keep this one pinned down here.
Even if it was only for fifteen minutes.
To buy time for Kikyo.
Clang—!
The two blades collided again.
Kobe Hikaru was shaken back five steps, grayish-black blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.
But he stabilized his stance and raised the muramasa again.
The Hannya Mask Oni Samurai pursued him, its rusty blade sweeping horizontally.
Kobe Hikaru didn't block—he knew that meeting it head-on would only make him exhaust himself faster.
[Ghost Step].
His figure vanished, reappearing at the enemy's right rear.
The blade tip lunged out, aimed at the lower back.
"Tricks."
The Hannya Mask Oni Samurai didn't even look back; it slapped its left hand backward, the arm extending again and lashing toward Kobe Hikaru's face like a whip.
Kobe Hikaru tilted his head back to avoid the whip-like strike, his [Spear-Waist Transformation] allowing his upper body to fold at an incredible angle once more.
But his thrust also missed its mark.
The two pulled apart, facing each other once again.
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