Chapter 226: Baldy, How Dare You Fight This Poor Taoist for the Abbess
That towering wall forged from Buddhist vows remained firmly in place.
From the distant northern mountains of Mino, a pale golden curtain of light spilled outward, washing toward the southeast like a relentless, silent tide. Its creeping advance was not particularly fast, yet it carried an unstoppable momentum, showing absolutely no sign of halting.
Kobe Hikaru stood on the packed dirt of the official road just outside Kiyosu Castle. The deep purple patterns within his Crimson Demon Eyes swirled violently as he tracked the encroaching glow.
He could feel it—the fundamental nature of that colossal wall of Buddhist power.
It did not attack. It did not harm. It did not even attempt to purify the taint of the world.
It simply existed. It stood as an infinitely high, infinitely thick transparent barricade spanning the vast expanse between heaven and earth. Ordinary humans could pass through its golden veil as freely as walking through a gentle mist, but for demons, it was an absolute absolute dead end. It made taking even a single step forward a physical impossibility.
"Buddhist spiritual power..."
Kikyo stood quietly by his side. Her longbow was slung diagonally across her back, and the cool sea breeze tugged gently at the midnight-black strands of her hair. Her detached, dark eyes gazed at the golden light bleeding across the northeastern horizon.
She gave a slight shake of her head. "This isn't as simple as just a Barrier."
"A Barrier has defined boundaries, a specific caster, and a continuous maintenance cost. This—" She paused, her eyes narrowing marginally. "This is the mountain itself. The mountain is the Barrier."
Hikaru did not argue.
He had already seen it. The true source of that overwhelming wall of Buddhist power emanated from an exceptionally massive peak in northern Mino.
Mount Hakurei.
Under the passive enhancement of the Black Pearl Agate's Truth-seeing talent, his vision pierced through the blinding golden haze. He could vaguely trace the outline of that mountain—a colossal mass that far exceeded any of the surrounding peaks, resting heavily against the earth like a prostrate giant.
No, it wasn't just like a giant.
That mountain itself was a corpse.
It was the petrified physical body of an eminent monk who had attained Nirvana hundreds of years ago—Master Hakushin. After his death, his remains had merged with the soil, greedily absorbing the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Over the centuries, the corpse had petrified, expanded, and grown, eventually transforming into a gargantuan mountain spanning several miles.
A physical body becoming a Buddha.
Hikaru naturally could not forget this entity. He had sensed its dormant presence before. Master Hakushin—a legendary figure who had saved countless starving peasants during a horrific famine. Before his mortal end, he had voluntarily allowed himself to be buried alive deep underground, chanting sacred sutras in the suffocating darkness for forty-nine days to become a Sokushinbutsu, a living Buddha.
But in his final, gasping moments, a single, fatal shred of unwillingness had surfaced. A spark of resentment.
He suddenly found himself unwilling to die in the cold dark. He resented the very people who had prayed for his sacrifice.
Because of that fleeting, human weakness, the golden gates to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss slammed shut. His soul was denied rebirth. Instead, he was trapped within the suffocating rock of the mountain for hundreds of years, his divine power slowly twisting as his resentment festered and grew.
Hikaru had originally assumed that this specific lore might have suffered some deviation in this chaotic, mixed world. But the oppressive scene unfolding before him confirmed the truth—within the depths of Mount Hakurei, Master Hakushin's soul still lingered.
And now, someone had deliberately awakened that wandering, resentful spirit.
Perhaps due to the sheer instability of this merged reality, this iteration of Mount Hakurei felt vastly more eerie and aggressive than the legends suggested.
It was moving.
"Who is it?" Kikyo asked, her voice cutting through the tense silence.
She wasn't asking about the nature of Mount Hakurei. She was asking who had the audacity—and the power—to wake it up. Clearly, she was also familiar with the dark legend of Master Hakushin.
Hikaru answered with a single title. "The Onmyo Bureau."
He followed it with a name. "Tsuchimikado Koketsu."
That fifteen or sixteen-year-old Apprentice Onmyoji. The same girl who had been so gently and politely turned away by Imagawa Yoshimoto back at the Imagawa Clan's main castle. She had appeared entirely harmless, a polite child running an errand.
But looking at the apocalyptic wall of light now, that girl was definitively not simple.
Or rather... the ancient existence pulling the strings behind her was not simple.
In that fleeting instant, Hikaru finally understood. The sudden breaking of his 'Anchor Point' wasn't merely the result of the vast magical power generated by the Buddhist Incense Prayer Power. It was driven by a deep, terrifying force designed to completely isolate the inside of the barrier from the outside world.
That wasn't Koketsu's power. It emanated from an even more terrifying entity that supposedly occupied the young girl's body.
"It seems the true purpose of the Onmyo Bureau, and the real reason they sent her as an envoy to the Tokaido, was never to gather the Daimyos' power to suppress the demon threat," Hikaru muttered, his Crimson Demon Eyes narrowing into dangerous slits.
He had felt a nagging suspicion back in Suruga when he eavesdropped on Yoshimoto receiving Koketsu. Sending the only daughter of the Onmyo Bureau's head all the way to the Tokaido just to deliver a largely insignificant Imperial Decree was a massive waste of a valuable asset.
Now, the truth was glaringly obvious. That decree was nothing but a convenient cover.
The Onmyo Bureau's true target had always been Mino.
It was Mount Hakurei.
Their goal was to awaken the Sokushinbutsu who had been slumbering in the dark for centuries.
...No wonder Kyoto had remained so suspiciously quiet after Tsuchigumo retreated. They hadn't given up; they were simply setting a massive trap, waiting for him right here.
"Their purpose?" Kikyo's tone was ice-cold.
"Probably to block the path," Hikaru said, his gaze fixed on the still-expanding wall of Buddha Power. "To block my path, or even... to force us apart."
Buddha Power naturally suppressed all Yao Qi. The barrier of Mount Hakurei was specifically calibrated to target non-human entities. As long as that golden wall remained standing, he could not march back to Musashi, nor could he return to Kaede Village.
His Night Parade of One Hundred Demons—the Great Kappa of Suruga, the Kamaitachi of Sagami, the Yuki-onna of Musashi, and the nearly one hundred lesser demons scattered across the three provinces—would all have their spiritual connections violently severed by this wall. They would be trapped on the other side.
He would be isolated. Cut off from his army. Without help.
A sharp chill surfaced in the depths of Kikyo's dark eyes.
Even she had to admit, this was an exceptionally vicious tactical move. There was no direct conflict, no massive armies deployed, no blood spilled on the battlefield. Just one awakened mountain and a wall of Buddha Power were enough to cleanly slice Kobe Hikaru and his forces in half.
, because Buddha Power did not harm ordinary humans, allowing them to pass freely, the Imagawa Clan's army, the Hojo Clan's messengers, and even Kikyo herself were theoretically unaffected by the blockade.
Only demons were targeted. Only him and his subordinates.
"Let's go." Hikaru casually shouldered the massive blade of Banryu and pivoted toward the northeast. "To Mount Hakurei."
"We need to deal with this wall first, otherwise—"
Before he could finish his sentence, the earth violently heaved beneath their feet.
It was a concussive sound wave emitted directly from the heart of the mountain. Even from hundreds of miles away, the violent vibration tore through the bedrock, rippling outward until it shattered the main road outside Kiyosu Castle. The packed soil cracked open, jagged pebbles danced into the air, and several patrolling Imagawa Clan Ashigaru lost their footing, crashing heavily to the ground in a clatter of armor.
And then—the light accelerated.
From the northeastern horizon, a blinding pillar of pale golden light suddenly roared into the sky, violently piercing the cloud cover. The radius of the light pillar expanded at a terrifying rate, shifting from a focused beam into a wide patch, and from a patch into a massive, sweeping plane that swallowed the entire field of vision.
"That mountain is still expanding!" Kikyo warned. Her spiritual power flared instantly, coating the fractured ground beneath her boots in a shimmering, pure white shield that anchored her firmly in place against the shockwaves.
Hikaru's demon eyes caught the finer details. Under the illusion-breaking amplification of the black pearl, he watched the advancement speed of the Buddha Power wall suddenly multiply tenfold.
It surged from Mino, rushing westward toward Owari.
That wall was no longer content with merely blocking the path. It was aggressively expanding to swallow a province and a half, aiming to cover both Mino and Owari, completely engulfing the territory where Hikaru currently stood.
Hikaru's pupils constricted. "It's not just blocking the path anymore. It's swallowing everything."
When the leading edge of the Buddha Power wall finally crashed against the towering ramparts of Kiyosu Castle, the heavy stone walls didn't even tremble. The Ashigaru standing guard on the battlements remained completely unaware, feeling nothing more than a warm breeze.
But from the direction of the Imagawa Clan's main camp tent, a sharp sound shattered the calm.
It was Yoshimoto.
"What... what is this—!"
Hikaru whipped his head around.
Inside the Imagawa Clan's main camp, the pale golden light had already seeped through the canvas tents. The human soldiers walked right through the glow without feeling a single thing, continuing their patrols or drinking from their canteens as if nothing had changed.
However, Imagawa Yoshimoto, who was standing in the inner hall of her command tent, began to turn translucent within the light.
It looked as if she were being forcefully 'sucked away' by an invisible vacuum. As if she were being forcibly transferred.
Yoshimoto's elaborate Junihitoe kimono fluttered wildly in the golden updraft, its deep purple fabric and heavy gold-threaded hem spreading out around her like seaweed caught in a strong ocean current. She desperately reached out, trying to grab a sturdy wooden tent pole to anchor herself, but her pale fingers passed right through the solid wood like a phantom.
Her voice carried a raw, primal fear of the unknown. She opened her mouth, seemingly trying to scream Hikaru's name, but she was out of time.
In the very next instant, she vanished completely into the blinding golden light.
Not even her signature folding fan was left behind.
At the exact same moment, beneath the walls of Kiyosu Castle.
Oda Nobuna was also disappearing.
"Again—?" Nobuna gasped, her eyes widening in shock as her body turned entirely transparent, the golden light eagerly swallowing her form.
A heartbeat later, the light swallowed Shibata Katsuie.
Then Maeda Toshiie.
The other humans in the camp, including the veteran soldiers standing right next to them, remained perfectly normal. They saw nothing, completely oblivious to the sudden disappearances of their commanders.
Only those who carried the heavy weight of the 'Mandate of Heaven'—and those who possessed Guardian Spirits—were being forcibly plucked away by the Buddha Power.
Like a farmer picking ripe fruit from a branch.
Mount Hakurei was systematically devouring the 'Mandate of Heaven'.
That cursed mountain where a man had attained Buddhahood in the flesh—fueled by Master Hakushin's centuries of rotting resentment—was actively devouring all the exceptional beings in this era who carried the Mandate of Heaven. Daimyos, legendary generals, and the reincarnations of Sacred Treasures. Anyone who had gathered a significant amount of popular support and worldly luck was being violently pulled into the mountain's depths.
What... or rather, what exactly did Master Hakushin and the shadowy figure behind Koketsu intend to do with them?
For a brief moment, Hikaru found the sheer scale of the scheme hard to comprehend.
Meanwhile, the creeping front of the golden light finally reached his boots.
The pale golden glow seeped up from the cracked soil and washed over the soles of his footwear. There was no violent rejection. There was no crushing suppression.
The light simply washed over his feet and continued to spread forward, treating him with the exact same indifference it showed to the ordinary peasants who lacked the Mandate of Heaven or Guardian Spirits.
This wasn't right.
The Buddha Power wall was designed to absolutely suppress all Yao Qi. He was a demon. He was an Oni Samurai who had achieved Materialization and the Ninth Transformation; his entire physical form was practically overflowing with dense Yao Qi.
Logically, the barrier should have violently repelled him, throwing him back or crushing him under its weight.
But while the holy light did not warmly embrace him, it did not reject him either. It passed through his demonic body as if it were passing through empty air.
Hikaru slowly looked down at his pale hands.
Deep within his chest, the Asuras Heart gave a heavy, rhythmic throb.
Four Viscera Resonance—Heart Fire, Kidney Water, Lung Metal, Liver Wood.
He had forged a Five Elements Cycle that was currently only missing the final piece: Spleen Earth. Although that internal cycle was technically incomplete, it was actively performing a miracle—it was making his dense Yao Qi closer and closer to the essence of 'life'.
His very foundation was mutating.
From an Oni Samurai, a resurrected undead demon forged from malice, he was, bit by bit, transforming into an existence that closely mirrored a living human being. He was neither fully living nor fully dead, yet simultaneously both; he was naturally walking the line between human and ghost.
Buddha Power strictly suppressed non-human things.
But he... was no longer entirely 'non-human'.
With his four viscera nearly complete and his three souls on the verge of gathering, he was actively walking the impossible path 'from ghost to demon, from death to life'.
The ancient Buddha Power wall of Mount Hakurei seemed to sense this deep contradiction. Unable to classify him, it did not reject him. It chose a state of neutrality—neither proactively pulling him in, nor refusing his presence.
"But if I take the initiative... it seems I can freely enter," Hikaru murmured, realizing the loophole.
And of course, he had to go in. He had to drag Imagawa Yoshimoto and Oda Nobuna out of that mountain. Especially Yoshimoto; keeping that woman alive and in power had already cost him far too much effort to just let her be digested by a dead monk.
, he absolutely could not allow Koketsu, or the Kyoto forces manipulating her, to succeed in whatever grand scheme they were brewing. No matter what the opponent's ultimate goal was, he had to crush it before it fully bloomed.
Kikyo nodded, her expression resolute. "I also—"
She took a firm step forward, walking directly into the golden light.
Then, she abruptly stopped. The light was pushing her back.
It was an extremely gentle force, like a protective mother softly pushing away a curious child's hand, but it firmly and undeniably ejected Kikyo from the golden radiance.
Kikyo stumbled half a step backward, the wide sleeves of her pristine white robe and the hem of her red hakama fluttering slightly from the repelling force. She looked down at her hands. A faint, pure white glow of her own spiritual power was shimmering defensively on the back of her hands, reacting to the barrier.
She looked up at the golden wall of light again. Right in front of her, the light had condensed into a thick, transparent, almost invisible membrane.
She reached out a slender finger to touch it.
The very microsecond her fingertip brushed the membrane, she was smoothly bounced back again.
Her brow furrowed slightly. She tried once more, channeling her energy, but was still effortlessly bounced back. Her innate spiritual power protection was bounced back. Her Space Teleportation was bounced back. Even her advanced Spirit Transformation Technique was bounced back.
The membrane didn't hurt her. It didn't repel humans, and it didn't inherently repel spiritual power.
It simply refused to let Kikyo, specifically, pass.
Because Kikyo carried the Shikon Jewel.
And, more, because Kikyo was simply too strong.
She was so overwhelmingly powerful that the Barrier of Buddha Power at Mount Hakurei could somehow tolerate Kobe Hikaru—a demon actively transforming from a ghost back into a living being—yet it absolutely rejected Kikyo.
Or rather, it was the lingering will of Master Hakushin himself who was terrified of, and rejecting, Kikyo's presence.
Kikyo stood silently before the towering wall of light.
Her beautiful face remained perfectly calm, her demeanor as cold and detached as it always was.
But Hikaru saw the subtle shift in her body language. Her hand was already resting heavily on the grip of the wooden bow slung across her back. Her knuckles were slightly white.
She was unhappy. She was uncomfortable.
She was annoyed.
"You go in," Kikyo said, her voice steady.
Though she was clearly reluctant and deeply unwilling to be left behind, Kikyo was a woman who always focused on the bigger picture. She knew Hikaru's pragmatic nature and understood that everything he did was calculated for his survival, for her safety, and for their collective future. She absolutely refused to let her own limitations hold him back.
"I'll wait outside."
Hikaru looked at her, not moving immediately.
"If it's a problem with the Shikon Jewel, we can temporarily leave it outside. I can set up a Barrier to hide it—"
Kikyo cut him off, shaking her head with absolute decisiveness. "If the Shikon Jewel leaves my physical presence for more than three days, Magatsuhi will begin to stir. The malice inside will awaken."
"If I hand it over to someone else to hold, once that person is inevitably corrupted by the active Magatsuhi, the consequences for this region would be unthinkable."
Her reasoning was flawless. There was no arguing with the danger of the Shikon Jewel.
Hikaru fell silent for a long moment, the wind howling softly between them.
"You, alone out here—"
Kikyo interrupted him again, her voice softening just a fraction, though her gaze remained fixed on the barrier. "Have you forgotten how many years I guarded Kaede Village entirely on my own?"
She didn't turn to look at him. Her dark eyes simply reflected the faint, swirling golden hues of the massive wall of light.
"Go. Quickly."
"Yoshimoto and the others were sucked deep inside, and the situation within the mountain is completely unknown. If Master Hakushin's centuries of resentment spiral out of control, those people will all die in there."
Hikaru studied her profile.
The harsh golden light dyed her white robe and red hakama in a surprisingly warm hue. Her long black hair draped elegantly over her shoulders, her thick belt cinched tightly at her narrow waist, cutting a sharp, clear silhouette against the chaotic backdrop of the expanding barrier.
Her lips were pressed into a thin, stubborn line.
She was a priestess reserved to her very core. She didn't openly say she was worried about him. She didn't offer a tearful plea for him to be careful. She only gave him the tactical command—go quickly.
He reached out and firmly clasped her hand, his cold fingers interlacing naturally with hers.
Kikyo finally turned her head.
Those usually cold, detached eyes appeared exceptionally clear and bright in the golden illumination.
"I'll be back," Hikaru said, his voice flat but carrying an absolute promise.
He let go of her hand.
Without another word of hesitation, he turned and stepped directly into the golden light.
The faint golden glow immediately enveloped his tall figure. His tattered grey robes blurred into the light, his pale long hair drifting as if underwater. The sinister purple light of his Crimson Demon Eyes flashed one final time within the gold.
And then—he vanished completely.
Kikyo stood alone before the towering wall of light.
The salty sea breeze blew in from the east, ruffling the hem of her pristine clothes and teasing the ends of her dark hair.
She didn't move from her spot.
Her Wakyu was now gripped firmly in her hand, the bowstring pulled taut, the wood creaking softly as she faced the endless golden expanse.
Just waiting... that was naturally impossible for someone like her.
"Within three days, or perhaps even sooner," Kikyo murmured softly to the empty air, her eyes narrowing with dangerous intent. "I should be able to shatter this mountain's Barrier."
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