The Hour of the Rat (Midnight).
Moonlight was obscured by thick clouds, and Kaede Village was plunged into total darkness.
The light of spiritual power within the Barrier was the only source of illumination at this moment, faintly shrouding the sleeping village.
Kikyo was not asleep.
She sat beneath the shrine's veranda with her longbow resting across her knees. Her white top billowed slightly in the night wind, clinging to the contours of her shoulders, back, and chest. Her red hakama wrapped around her pressed-together legs. In her cross-legged posture, the curve of her hips was outlined by the fabric, pressing shallow indentations into the wooden floorboards.
Her jet-black hair was loose behind her, the ends trailing on the floor.
Her pitch-black eyes narrowed slightly, gazing toward the north.
—Something was approaching.
The warning layer of the Barrier had been triggered.
It had been triggered by many.
They were closing in from three directions simultaneously: north, east, and west.
Demonic Qi?
No.
It was not Demonic Qi.
Kikyo frowned.
She could clearly distinguish the difference between Demonic Qi and other scents. The aura of a demon was turbid and heavy, carrying the underlying tone of the earth's Turbid Qi.
But these things that were approaching—
Their scent held traces of humanity.
A faint, human life force, covered by something twisted.
Demons.
Kikyo's pupils dilated.
She remembered the existence she had seen outside the Demon Slayer Village last time.
The immortal demons created by the blood of the so-called Progenitor of Demons, Kibutsuji Muzan, as described by Kanbe Hikaru.
Neither demon nor monster, they did not belong to any classification system she was familiar with.
Their only weakness was sunlight.
Last time, she had been unable to eliminate that demon in an instant.
Because she didn't understand them.
Because it was her first encounter.
But now it was different.
After that battle, Kikyo had spent a great deal of time reflecting on the characteristics of that demon—their near-infinite regenerative ability, their ability to reform even after being shattered by spiritual power, and how an ordinary Sacred Arrow could only cause momentary suppression.
The conclusion was simple.
It was not that her spiritual power was insufficient.
It was that the method of application was wrong.
The spiritual power of the Sacred Arrow was used for purification—its greatest lethality lay in the purification of Demonic Qi and Turbid Qi.
But demons were not monsters, and what drove them was not Demonic Qi.
They were human—strange, twisted humans.
Therefore, what was needed was not greater destruction.
But rather—sealing.
While destroying, use spiritual power to seal the source of the distortion.
Kikyo stood up.
With her longbow in hand, she held three arrows between her fingers.
She walked down the shrine steps, her white socks stepping onto the cold stone slabs.
At the edge of the Barrier, the first demon crawled out.
It looked like this demon had once been an ordinary man, middle-aged, wearing tattered farmer's clothes.
But now, its face was twisted beyond recognition, its mouth split to its ears, revealing rows of dense, sharp fangs; its eyes were bloodshot, and its fingernails were elongated like claws.
The characteristics of a demon.
It was undoubtedly also a product created by Kibutsuji Muzan.
Last time there was only one.
This time—
The second one climbed over the low wall from the east.
The third one rushed out from the woods to the west.
The fourth, the fifth.
Seven in total.
Kikyo did not hesitate.
She pulled the bowstring taut.
She fired three arrows at once.
White spiritual power condensed at the arrowheads—not the explosive Sacred Arrow of before, but spiritual arrows carrying a different technique, not intended for exorcism.
The spiritual power at the arrowheads spun in a spiral; the inner layer was purification, and the outer layer was sealing.
First seal, then destroy.
The three arrows struck the heads of three demons simultaneously.
White light exploded.
Unlike last time, the spiritual power did not dissipate immediately after the explosion.
Those white rays of light formed a thin 'membrane' on the surface of the demons' bodies, wrapping the shattered tissue within.
The demons' regeneration activated.
The torn flesh squirmed, attempting to reform.
But the sealing membrane of spiritual power locked them firmly in place.
Each piece of flesh was individually locked within a cocoon of spiritual power, unable to reconnect with the other parts.
And then—destruction.
The inner layer of spiritual power began to take effect, but instead of being used for purification, it was used directly for detonation.
Under the isolation of the seal, the demons' regenerative ability could not resist the spiritual power trapped within the same space.
Those pieces of flesh turned to ash amidst the white light.
For the three demons, from the moment the arrows struck to their complete annihilation, it took no more than an instant.
Kikyo's hands did not stop.
The fourth arrow, the fifth arrow.
Her movements were so fluid they were near perfect, without the slightest hesitation.
The string rang, the arrow flew, it hit, it sealed, it purified.
It was all done in one breath.
In less than three breaths, all seven evil demons had been wiped out.
When the battle ended, only seven piles of dissipating ash remained on the clearing.
And the faint, fragrant scent of purification by spiritual power lingering in the air.
Kikyo lowered her bow.
Her breathing had not even quickened.
Seven low-level evil demons, for her current self, didn't even count as a warm-up.
But—her brow furrowed even tighter.
According to what Hikaru had said last time, demons generally acted alone and would never appear here in groups for no reason.
What were they attracted by?
Kikyo looked up, her pitch-black eyes scanning the surrounding darkness.
The warning layer of the Barrier did not trigger again.
It was temporarily safe.
But her intuition told her that things were not over.
"Sister!"
Kaede ran out from the shrine, wearing her hair in twin tails and dressed in pajamas, her face still bearing the confusion of being startled awake.
"It's fine now."
Kikyo turned around, shielding her younger sister behind her: "Go back to sleep."
"But those just now—"
"They have already been dealt with."
Kaede looked at the dissipating ash on the ground, pursed her lips, and obediently turned to run back into the shrine.
Kikyo stood alone in the clearing.
The night wind blew, and her long, loose hair fluttered behind her, framing her delicate and beautiful face.
Her pale, cherry-colored lips were slightly pursed.
She knew someone was watching from the shadows.
But she did not go to look for them.
Because—
"Shrine Maiden, Kikyo?"
Two figures rushed up from the mountain path to the south.
They were moving very fast.
The one in front was about fourteen or fifteen years old, wearing a shrine maiden's outfit with a white top and red hakama. Her long, jet-black hair was tied into a ponytail behind her head. Her face was delicate, and her expression carried a sense of innocence, but at this moment, her eyes were filled with anger.
Momiji.
The one following behind was younger, about twelve or thirteen, with a round face and large eyes, dressed in the same shrine maiden attire. She clutched several paper talismans in her hand, running until she was out of breath.
Botan.
Tsubaki's two junior sisters.
Disciples of the Tahoto.
Kikyo's gaze paused slightly, as if she had suddenly understood something.
The existence of the Tahoto was once closely related to the Shikon Jewel, and the former master of the Tahoto had a past connection with the village chief of the Demon Slayer Village. As the designated guardian of the Shikon Jewel from long ago, she naturally knew this.
She actually knew Momiji and Botan, though they were young at the time and might not remember her.
They were only responsible for guarding the Tahoto and were not very clear about the existence of the Shikon Jewel.
And now.
They had arrived.
What they saw, however, was Kikyo standing alone in the middle of seven piles of ash.
Those ashes contained lingering traces of human aura.
Faint, twisted, yet undeniably present traces of human life.
Momiji's footsteps came to an abrupt halt.
Her expression froze.
"You..."
Her voice was filled with shock: "What have you done to them?"
Botan also stopped, her large eyes wide with disbelief.
"What Senior Sister said is true..."
Her voice was even quieter, yet carried a deeper sense of confusion: "Are you really helping demons, killing people...?"
Kikyo looked at the two young priestesses.
She understood everything in that very instant.
Tsubaki.
It was Tsubaki.
Demon blood attracts evil spirits, the evil spirits attack the village, and she eliminates them—and these two young priestesses who didn't know the inside story happened to arrive at this moment.
They couldn't sense any Demonic Qi because the spirits had no Demonic Qi.
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