Chapter 136: Demon King
Saki Jingūji tried her best to support her body, but she was very tired.
She had never killed so many creatures in her whole life.
If we want to count the last time she killed more than a hundred creatures in one go, we have to go back to when she was a child and poured hot water on an ant nest.
She was not like Hokusinn Kichyō, who had the opportunity to train her mind by reverting time a hundred times. Nor was she like Yagyū Simozi, who received meticulous guidance from her older brother every day.
She found it very difficult to get used to.
Being able to hold back the urge to vomit was already a sign of strong mental strength. In the past, she would only kill a few chickens or get rid of a few evil ghosts in order to build up her courage.
But evil ghosts were already dead to begin with, so killing them was just a way to protect the people.
But what lay before her was different. The exact sensation left from each strike remained, making her feel very tired and wearing down her spirit.
She really wanted to sit down and rest for a little while, but the sudden applause made her tense up again.
She caught a glimpse of a figure in the distance.
Unlike the evil demons, there was something different about him. It was a young boy, dressed in traditional Japanese clothing called a kimono, and he was wearing wooden sandals on his feet.
His skin was fair, his eyes were dark red, and he seemed to have sharp teeth, although they were not exposed like fangs. His appearance resembled a horrifying cannibalistic creature.
He appeared to be a person, but possessed many features that were unlike those of a human.
"Well done, it was marvelous! I never expected that I could encounter a heroic spirit just by chance..." The young member of the Demon Clan clapped his hands and spoke with a cheerful smile.
"Do you know that I am a heroic spirit? Yet you dare to appear. Aren't you afraid of death?" Saki Jingūji exclaimed with a firm display of bravado.
"Hahaha, if you were a fully grown heroic spirit, I would never show myself, but you..." The young boy smiled, showing his teeth. "You haven't fully awakened yet, have you? An inexperienced aura emanates from your soul, the way you hold the sword, your hesitant stance while swinging it, and that lingering sense of fear... All of these without exception prove that you are still a novice in this field."
Saki Jingūji sneered coldly and said, "What on earth are you creatures!"
"Demons," the young boy replied. "Or any other name would do, really."
"Why did you attack us..."
"Does the lion need a reason to attack the antelope?"
"The lion didn't have as many of you running around."
"It's true, most ordinary demons don't have any intelligence. They only understand killing and devouring. Talking to them is impossible."
"Are you saying that you are unique?"
"Of course, I can speak human language, which proves that my intelligence is no less than yours, and I am much stronger in terms of power," the young boy said calmly. "We have been sealed away for a long time, my kindred and I. We are famished and in need of a lot of food to replenish ourselves. That's all there is to it."
Between different species, within the food chain, there is no need for explanations.
"I think I understand," said Jingūji calmly. "If I were to kill you, everything would come to an end, right?"
The young member of the Demon Clan simply smiled and asked, "Can you really do it?"
Saki Jingūji pretended to be calm, but then swiftly charged forward and kicked a head, sending it flying like a ball towards the Demon Clan teenager.
The young boy raised his right hand, holding it up in front of him. He swung his sleeve, causing the head to be tossed aside like a sliced block of tofu.
Jingūji skipped lightly, kicking something to distract and hide her next movement. She picked up the weapon stuck in the body.
Snowflakes fell on the sword.
She swung her sword towards the young boy, but in the blink of an eye, she lost sight of him. Instead, she struck a mere afterimage. Cherry blossoms scattered onto the ground as she attacked, splitting the courtyard wall into two. Suddenly, a deadly attack came from behind. Jingūji felt a sharp pain in her back as if she had been struck by a vehicle. She didn't know what had happened, but the searing pain in her back meant that she was injured and bleeding.
The outfit she was wearing could protect her from most slashing attacks, but in the hands of the Demon Clan teenager, it was very fragile and easily torn apart. The resulting wounds were reminiscent of claw marks left on a container by ancient dinosaur claws.
Saki Jingūji ignored the pain, which strangely made her mind even clearer. She realized that she shouldn't swing her sword recklessly. She cautiously held her blade and confronted her opponent. However, she made another mistake.
Suddenly, a loud rumbling sound echoed, and the walls on both sides were forcefully knocked over. Bricks, stones, and dust flew everywhere as a muscular flesh-eating demon charged towards her from both sides, trapping her in a tight corner in the blink of an eye.
Jingūji had to swing her sword again, unleashing the Blossom of Life Taker. It bloomed around her, tearing apart two flesh-eating demons. However, in her sword movements, there were always openings and weaknesses. In one of those gaps, a hand reached into her swing and aimed for her lower abdomen.
Saki Jingūji kept stepping back and back, relying on the outfit she wore to protect her life once again. The piercing wound was less than two centimeters deep. Without this protective outfit, she would have lost half of her waist.
"Mean...," Jingūji gritted her teeth, spitting out the words with anger.
The Demon Clan teenager showed his white teeth and said, "We need to use every means we have."
He snapped his fingers, and suddenly, many members of the Demon Clan emerged from the surrounding villages. Unlike the earlier green demons, these Demon Clan members looked peculiar and had different appearances.
"The more people a demon eats, the more it will change in some way. Some become faster, some become stronger. These are my loyal guards that I collected, originally meant to deal with certain demon hunters. But now, I can try using them on you."
He stood in the center of the evil demons, being guarded, just like a king standing in the middle of his army.
On the opposite side, there was only one person, Saki Jingūji.
She couldn't even step back because the shrine was just a short distance behind her. She dared not turn around, afraid that the other person might resort to holding her hostage.
The boy snapped his fingers and said, "Don't give her a chance to catch her breath!"
A scary monster, resembling a snake-like creature, rushed forward. It had four arms and a lizard-like lower body, crawling on the ground as it charged. It randomly grabbed two logs that were used as support for the house and swung them on the ground, creating a strong gust of damp wind.
On the right side, there was a mutated monster that had scales, much like a large and strong crocodile with four limbs.
Two monsters charged forward, bringing with them a terrifying storm of blood and violence. The danger was unimaginable.
Saki Jingūji had a strange feeling. She remembered watching a recent superhero movie where the giants were there to fight against other strange-looking monsters. But even the most ugly monsters in the movie were way cuter than these cannibals.
She crouched down and dodged several fierce attacks. During her battle with Yagyū Simozi, she had become accustomed to being on the defensive. This gave her more experience in evading and defending against the attacks. Seizing an opportunity, she took a sudden step forward, her teeth bared, and delivered an upward slash, cutting open the demon's abdomen. Her strike clearly hit the target. As the demon's stomach was sliced open, many crushed white bones flew out.
The severely injured serpent-like demon didn't immediately lose its grip. Its tail wrapped around Jingūji's waist, exerting a ferocious force that almost snapped her waist in two. Suddenly, Jingūji's eyes turned bright red, and her newfound strength caused her blood to rush to her head, like squeezing a bottle of mineral water and having the water rise to the top. Her vision became blurry due to the reversal of blood flow, making it nearly impossible for her to discern the trajectory of attacks around her.
The strong gust of wind from the right made her instinctively defend herself. The impact hit her, causing everything to spin wildly. When her senses finally returned, she found herself lying on the ground, surrounded by soft and damp mud. Her left hand hung weakly by her side.
The pain brought ringing in her ears and made her vision blurry, but she suddenly gripped the handle of her sword with her right hand. She exerted all her strength to prop herself up and swiftly dodged the approaching dark figure. Stepping on its shoulder, she leaped into the air and came down with a deadly strike.
She had not struck deep enough, and she could feel the enemy's desperate struggles. She had to use all her strength to push the sword in deeper until it stopped moving, and with a loud crash, the enemy collapsed, sending Jingūji tumbling down as well.
At this moment, she had almost exhausted her last bit of strength. Leaning on her sword, she made several futile attempts to rise, but she couldn't even lift her head. She could only lower her head and gasp for breath, with each breath feeling like her lungs were being squeezed flat.
Her vision gradually returned to normal, and once again she heard the applause of the Demon Clan teenager.
He said, "I now want to offer you a way to survive."
Jingūji didn't answer.
He continued, "Become a part of us, both you and those women can survive. It may take a long time, but trust me, you can gain so much more..."
The sword witch whispered, "So, you used to be a human, but now you're neither human nor demon."
The boy sighed with disappointment and said, "There are always people who cling to such meaningless pride, busy rushing towards death."
He stopped trying to persuade, as it was more of a sudden impulse and not necessarily a genuine desire to increase his companions. Even if the other person agreed, he might change his mind in the next moment. Adding more of the same kind might not necessarily be a good thing, especially when there were already grudges and resentments.
There were still many evil demons around, and Jingūji was already exhausted. She heard footsteps approaching from behind, probably the sword witches planning to do something.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
To break through, it should have been done earlier.
She didn't realize it earlier, always hesitating and going with the flow. She got used to just following along and staying in her comfort zone. This hesitation eventually led to the end of her life, which is a truly laughable outcome.
However, surprisingly... she wasn't very disappointed.
She fought with all her might and did everything she could. If this is the outcome, she thought to herself, then she simply had to accept it.
"Goodbye, Simozi."
She murmured in a soft voice, saying goodbye quietly, "Goodbye, sir..."
The Sword Witches were waiting for the final desperate struggle, while the Demon Clan teenager had raised his hand, ready to snap his fingers.
In this quiet standoff, a bird startled and flew up from the distant woods, and the faint rumble of a motorcycle engine could be heard.
