When Sakura woke, it was already dusk the next day.
The setting sun had dyed the entire wasteland gold and red. On the distant horizon, the monster corpses piled up like mountains were still giving off black smoke.
Wind blew in from the south, carrying a scorched, fishy stench.
She was lying beside a stone pillar, Kikyo's white haori draped over her.
The haori carried a faint scent of medicinal herbs.
"Awake?"
Kikyo's voice came from not far away.
Sakura braced a hand against the ground and sat up. She saw Kikyo sitting at the edge of the altar, holding that yellowed booklet, a writing brush tucked between her fingers, a freshly drawn talisman spread across her knees.
The cinnabar on the talisman had not completely dried yet, glowing a dark red in the sunset.
"How long did I sleep?"
"A day and a night."
Kikyo did not look up, continuing to write something in the booklet.
"The Demonic Power and Spiritual Power inside you were both drained dry. Your body needed time to recover.
"Feel it again now."
Sakura closed her eyes.
Her Demonic Power lay curled in her dantian, steady and deep.
Her Spiritual Power was scattered through the blood vessels all over her body, slowly flowing through her meridians.
They were not fighting.
One could even say that, for the first time, they were like neighbors who had lived under the same roof for many years, each staying in their own room, neither disturbing the other.
"It's quieter than before."
Sakura opened her eyes and looked at her hands.
"It isn't quiet."
Kikyo put down her brush and turned to look at her.
"It's tamed. The Demonic Power inside you no longer resists the existence of Spiritual Power, and the Spiritual Power no longer fears the pressure