Hebe spoke softly. "Miss Okita, let me confirm this once more. Are you truly going to join the battle now, even if the price is exhausting the lifespan I worked so hard to extend for you?"
Okita Sōji gripped her sword hilt. "Miss Tamamo didn't bring me here just so Sōji could stand by and watch."
"It's just that... I'm truly sorry for all the care Miss Tamamo has put into me..." The young swordswoman bowed deeply in apology.
Hebe said nothing. She merely cut open her finger and held it to the young swordswoman's lips.
The golden blood gave off an indescribable allure, and Okita Sōji felt the oni side within her clamoring wildly.
"In the past, the blood I gave Miss Okita was always diluted. It could ease an oni's hungry instincts."
The fox spirit's voice remained calm. "But with Miss Okita about to enter battle, I can't simply watch you die of frailty or lose your mind on the battlefield and become an Asura."
Okita Sōji took a deep breath. The next instant, she opened her mouth and took the fox spirit's finger between her lips.
The young swordswoman's tongue lightly brushed Hebe's fingertip as she swallowed the sweet, fishy golden blood.
Warmth flowed through the young swordswoman's body.
Hebe withdrew her finger, its tip carrying an unusual gleam.
Okita Sōji instinctively wanted more, but she immediately restrained her desire.
She drew Kiku-ichimonji Norimune—not a replica, but the genuine blade kept by the shogunate.
A flash of sword light pierced into the battlefield.
The Chōshū Domain's defensive line collapsed in an instant.
The fundamental reason was a graceful streak of sword light darting back and forth across the battlefield. Neither Jigen-ryū nor any other school could hold out before it for even a breath. Even Kondō