A gaping hole blew straight through the cottage wall.
Sango swallowed hard.
She didn't dare make another sound.
Power like that couldn't be summed up with the phrase "sleight of hand."
"Little sister, are you satisfied with my strength?" Kikyo asked with a gentle smile, eyes on Sango.
Sango trembled all over and nodded like a pecking chick.
"Good. I like good girls."
After subduing Sango, Kikyo left behind a few cultivation methods. She didn't leave any eternal imprints; this time-space was not the master timeline, and God had given her no command to preach before she came.
Then she mended the cottage with a spell and laid down a barrier.
In this way, the Exorcist Village would no longer be troubled by demons.
With one more person joining the party, the road grew livelier. Compared to the poised, quiet Kikyo, Sango preferred talking with Kagome. They were about the same age and had endless topics to chatter about.
When Sango learned Kikyo wasn't from this time-space, she was plainly stunned.
Someone had reversed time?
She doubted even the gods of their world could do that.
They roamed the land, flying most days, and, alongside Kikyo, did as many good deeds as they could—slaying demons, improving the waterways for common folk.
In just half a month,
more than six thousand demons had died by Kikyo's hand.
A certain half-demon lurking in the dark learned of Kikyo's return.
"Kikyo… a woman I haven't seen in far too long. I want to meet her."
Naraku, wrapped in his baboon pelt, rose on a drift of miasma, eyes glittering strangely, and flew off into the distance.
He had pinpointed Kikyo's location
because he'd found a chess piece she had left behind.
…
"Hurry— the demon controlling my soul is coming."
Dressed in white, Hitomi spotted Kikyo's trio and immediately warned them.
But then Naraku's spider silk seized her again. She dropped to her knees with a wail.
Her soul was bound.
Like a puppet, every day she went where she was made to go, met people she was made to meet, and spoke the lines she was made to say.
Everyone knew she had died long ago—
but her body didn't listen.
Sometimes she lured unsuspecting people in,
to feed Naraku's spiders.
Her daily existence was torture.
"Sister Kikyo, help her—she's so pitiful," Sango couldn't help pleading.
To be bound by spider silk for years—
how cruel could anything be?
Kikyo nodded, stepped up to Hitomi, and pressed a hand to her brow.
Divine power surged.
It purified the sorcery in Hitomi's body and chased the trail back to its source.
In Kikyo's perception,
a demon was hurtling toward them.
It would be here before long.
"The miasma fiend again? Forget it. I don't feel like playing with him—"
Kikyo's voice was light.
God had ordered her to find Kagome and help her sister unify the world.
She had no time for petty games with a demon.
"Divine Art—Reversal, Elimination of Evil."
Boom.
A golden streamer shot out—
and struck Naraku's body directly.
He had just crossed a mountain range, less than thirty kilometers from Hitomi's location.
Suddenly,
a golden flame burned up from the depths of Naraku's soul.
"What—what's happening?"
"Why is my soul burning…"
"No—who is attacking me!!!"
Black smoke billowed.
Onigumo's ugly human soul fell out of it,
and crumbled to ash in midair.
Meanwhile, within the twisting soul-mass, two flickers drew Kikyo's attention.
"Well now… I didn't expect anything so pure to be born among demons."
The consciousnesses of those two souls were dim,
but there was no miasma about them at all—
only a fresh, clean breath.
Even her annihilating golden flame did not touch them. These souls were interesting.
Kikyo's eyes moved. Her white palm stretched through space and seized both clusters.
One soul held a faint aura of void; the other carried the nature of wind.
Both were female.
Both were barely conscious.
Catalyze them with power, and two brand-new demons would be born.
"This is…" Kagome stared at the captured souls, startled.
How had she suddenly pulled out two souls?
"The demon controlling Hitomi," Kikyo explained, "but not exactly. It's a confluence of countless evil souls. In short, things invert."
Naraku was both evil and good—
a mass formed from aggregated human resentments, called a half-demon only by convenience.
Onigumo himself had died long ago.
Even his thoughts had grown dim.
The one thing he still "knew" was to harm Kikyo— the old obsession: If I can't have you, I'll destroy you.
That was Onigumo's final thought.
But within the endless dark, evil souls continually merged—
and two sisters, Kanna and Kagura, were born.
They were the inversion of everything around them.
Sango looked confused; Kagome nodded thoughtfully.
She had more or less grasped what was going on.
Relieved of her torment, Hitomi finally sagged with exhaustion.
She could rest, at last.
…
In the end, Kikyo and the others left the village.
The people assumed Hitomi had found peace,
never knowing Kikyo had come and gone.
When night fell,
the crackle of a bonfire sounded at Hitomi's ear. She opened her eyes.
Brilliant stars.
A warm fire.
A comfortable body.
She was stunned.
"Am… am I dead? How can I still be in the world?"
Her soft voice rasped a little.
A woman in a black demon-slayer's uniform knelt beside her and cupped water to Hitomi's lips.
"Thanks to Lady Kikyo's divine art, you can live again in this body. Don't be surprised—creating a body isn't as hard as you think."
Kikyo?
Hitomi started, glancing around.
But Kikyo was nowhere in sight.
"Don't look for her," Sango said, setting a bowl by Hitomi before flopping down on the luggage with a yawn. "My lady went out to kill demons. She's a goddess—she can go without sleep. We can't."
Hitomi asked anxiously, "The Kikyo you spoke of—is she the same one who died fifty years ago?"
"Yes and no. This Lady Kikyo came from another world. You'll understand when you see it yourself."
"Oh."
The miko in white nodded and did not press further.
But emotion swelled in her chest.
Dead so many years—
and yet resurrected.
What a miracle.
What kind of god did she serve?
Unlike Kagome, who had grown up with modern schooling,
Hitomi had been taught by her grandfather from childhood: the duties of a miko were to lighten the world's suffering and serve God.
She had long since accepted the bitter with the sweet.
Hitomi smiled, closed her eyes, and relaxed into the warmth of her flesh.
Happiness spread quietly through her.
The next morning, Kikyo returned and announced that they were leaving.
"C-can't we come back?" Kagome asked, brow creased, eyes imploring.
Kikyo shook her head. "When you reach eight-star strength, you'll be able to visit your parents. Work hard, young lady…"
Her voice fell.
She wove a spell, opening a time-space tunnel before the three of them.
There was nothing left to keep them in this time-space.
And after so long here, she had found no other gifted goddess. Enough—for now.
Back in the original time-space,
the three girls stared, wide-eyed, at the vastness of Maple City.
The world was entirely different.
The air was impossibly fresh.
Humans and yokai walked the streets side by side, perfectly at ease.
"Is this… the God-Realm? It's amazing, isn't it…" Kagome breathed.
Every passerby was stronger than she was.
Even the children had incredible power.
Hitomi and Sango traded a glance.
So this was the God-Realm. It truly was different.
As they stood there in wonder, Kikyo said dryly, "This is another time-space. Don't overthink it—just a fragmented world."
Kagome: …
I suspect you just looked down on me.
But I have no proof.
Under Kikyo's lead, they entered the temple.
Kagome spotted Kaede—no, Xiao Feng—there.
A girl with an aloof grace,
skin white as snow,
eyes bright as stars—
a hundred times more radiant than any so-called idol.
But how could she feel so familiar?
"Sister, is it done?" Xiao Feng asked.
"Mm. Let them stay with you for a time. I have things to handle."
Their exchange left Kagome dizzy.
Sister.
That stunning girl was that old woman?
Good heavens.
Xiao Feng turned to the three girls, gave a small nod, and had attendants lead them to a dormitory to rest.
Once everyone was gone,
Kikyo went to the altar, set down the three soul-clusters she held, and activated the divine-sigil array.
Goddesses had no need to pray.
They invoked the sacrificial rite directly through magic.
The souls of Kanna and Kagura rose, borne on light, into the Eternal God-Realm.
"Next is unifying the world. Let's hope it doesn't take too long…" Kikyo murmured to herself.
…
In the fox-lit God-Realm,
Liu Che received the system prompts.
Ding… Your goddess Kikyo has sacrificed a soul, triggering a 100,000× increase. You have obtained the Goddess of Emptiness—Kanna.
Ding… Your goddess Kikyo has sacrificed a soul, triggering a 100,000× increase. You have obtained the Wind Goddess—Kagura.
Ding… Your goddess Kikyo has sacrificed Midoriko's soul; restoration complete, and Midoriko's strength has improved.
Note: Both new goddesses possess dim consciousnesses and tremendous potential. Nurture them with care.