Chapter Summaries

Chiyo taught Kikyo archery and Talismans, then helped her admit that she did not want to become a Miko and grieve for her mother. He left her with a Charm and words of encouragement, and Kikyo wondered whether they would meet again.

• Chiyo corrected Kikyo’s archery technique, and she pierced the hole in a coin with her arrow.
• Chiyo taught Kikyo to treat drawing Talismans as a conversation with the world, and she created a powerful Talisman.
• Kikyo told Chiyo she did not want to be a Miko and had not cried when her mother died.
• Chiyo comforted Kikyo as she cried and told her that believing in fate could either weigh her down or help her stand firm.
• Chiyo gave Kikyo a Charm and left, and she recognized him as Chiyo and asked whether they would meet again.

Sakura awakened the faint Spiritual Power within her and reached out to the Sword of the First Miko at the failing seal. Through it, she witnessed the tragic history of the Miko and the King-level Great Demon, and told Kikyo that they had been in love.

• Kikyo explained that reinforcing the seal required two miko or a single miko's life, and discovered that Sakura had weak Spiritual Power suppressed by her Demonic Power.
• Sakura followed her mother's advice to sense rather than overpower the talisman's Spiritual Power, awakening a faint white glow in her palm.
• The group reached the altar, where Kikyo explained that the First Miko's sword still held the seal together and that removing it would free the King-level Great Demon.
• Sakura connected with the sword and saw the First Miko seal the demon after he had slaughtered villagers, then die as her Spiritual Power and life ran out.
• Sakura returned from the vision and told Kikyo that the First Miko and the King-level Great Demon had been in love.

Kikyo learned that Sakura’s father had once taught her how to live and had been connected to the First Generation Miko’s tragic love. As Kikyo began reinforcing the ancient seal, Sakura fed her Spiritual Power into the Black Longsword while Inuyasha and Saku prepared to guard the altar.

• Kikyo told Sakura that her father had given her the Charm and taught her that a Miko did not have to bear everything alone.
• Kikyo vowed to find Chiyo after completing the sealing and assigned Sakura, Inuyasha, and Saku their roles in the ritual.
• Sakura and Inuyasha spoke about their father’s bond with humans, and Inuyasha agreed to protect Saku during the ritual.
• At dawn, Sakura placed candles while Kikyo drew Talismans around the altar and explained that her father had taught her to speak to the world through them.
• Sakura began pouring her Spiritual Power into the Black Longsword, and Kikyo activated the golden sealing formation.

Kikyo and Sakura exhausted themselves repairing the seal on the altar while Inuyasha fought off waves of demons. The seal succeeded and the Black Longsword turned silver white, but Sakura’s Demon Blood began boiling as her Spiritual Power ran out.

• Inuyasha fought off successive waves of demons drawn to the altar and collapsed from his injuries as the ritual neared its end.
• Sakura took over from the exhausted Kikyo and poured her remaining Spiritual Power into the cracks still leaking evil aura.
• Sakura’s purification closed the cracks, restored the seal, and dispelled the darkness accumulated on the Black Longsword.
• The Black Longsword turned silver white and revealed words honoring the Miko who had sealed and guarded her loved one for four hundred years.
• Kikyo collapsed from exhaustion, and Sakura’s wounds began healing as her eyes turned crimson and her Demon Blood boiled.

Sakura’s Demon Blood overwhelmed her, but Kikyo’s charm awakened the Spiritual Power suppressed inside her and brought her back to herself. Kikyo explained that Sakura could eventually control her Demon Blood by balancing both powers, and directed her to train with the Spiritual Power remaining in the altar’s sword.

• Sakura lost control of her Demon Blood and attacked Inuyasha, who was badly knocked into a stone pillar.
• Kikyo used Chiyo’s burning charm to awaken Sakura’s dormant Spiritual Power, causing the Demon Power to recede and Sakura to collapse.
• Sakura woke the next morning and learned from Kikyo that her Spiritual Power had returned and now coexisted with her Demonic Power.
• Kikyo explained that Sakura’s Half-demon blood would remain dangerous until she achieved balance between Spiritual Power and Demonic Power.
• Kikyo told Sakura to draw Spiritual Power from the altar’s sword for training, then return it to strengthen the seal.

Sakura endured a violent clash between her Demonic Power and Spiritual Power, then reconciled with the power within her and achieved their first step toward coexistence. The chapter left her newly stabilized as Saku sensed a large group of demons approaching from the south.

• Sakura's Demonic Power overwhelmed the weak Spiritual Power entering her from the Qinglan Sword, but the sword poured a much stronger torrent into her.
• Sakura confronted the scarlet version of herself in a vision, acknowledged the pain they had both endured, and declared she would protect those who loved her with both kinds of power.
• Sakura's inner self agreed to cooperate with her and occasionally tolerate Spiritual Power, allowing the two forces to stop fighting inside her.
• Sakura returned to her body with her power stabilized, and Kikyo recognized this as their first step toward balance.
• Saku sensed many demons approaching from the south.

Sakura balanced her Demonic Power and Spiritual Power as she fought off a massive demon horde alongside Inuyasha. After the demons retreated at dawn, Sakura collapsed from exhaustion, and Kikyo confirmed that Sakura’s balance had completed its transformation.

• Kikyo, Inuyasha, and Sakura prepared to face thousands of demons drawn by Sakura’s Demon Blood, while Kikyo asked Sakura to confirm she could still fight.
• Sakura walked toward the approaching horde and combined her Demonic Power with her Spiritual Power without losing control, then sent Inuyasha to guard the left flank.
• Sakura cut down wave after wave of demons with the Qinglan Sword, while Inuyasha fought on the left and Kikyo watched over Saku from the altar.
• As dawn broke and the demon tide ebbed, Sakura collapsed from exhaustion, and Kikyo caught her.
• Kikyo checked Sakura, placed Chiyo’s glowing charm on her, and realized Sakura’s balance had completed its transformation.

After waking from a day and night of recovery, Sakura found that her Demonic Power and Spiritual Power had reached a stable ceasefire. Kikyo told her about her mother Kanade Hime’s choice to leave the Shrine and marry a demon, then encouraged Sakura to become herself; Sakura offered Kikyo the same advice.

• Sakura woke beside the altar and learned she had slept for a day and a night after exhausting both kinds of power.
• Kikyo explained that Sakura’s Demonic Power and Spiritual Power had stopped resisting each other, though true cooperation would take much more practice.
• Kikyo told Sakura that Kanade Hime had been the Shrine’s most promising miko before she disappeared and chose to marry a demon.
• Kikyo said she would keep Kanade Hime’s story private and believed Kanade had never regretted her choice because her Spiritual Power matched the power in the charm Chiyo gave her.
• Kikyo told Sakura she did not have to become her mother and reminded her she was not alone.
• Sakura told Kikyo to be herself, while Inuyasha silently turned away with a glint in the corner of his eye.

After the seal was reinforced, Kikyo left to find Chiyo and ask why he had never come when she called for help. Sakura, Inuyasha, and Saku continued east to train, carrying the promise to return and strengthen the seal in twenty years.

• Kikyo read from the First Generation Miko's diary and said she would not regret her choices.
• Sakura promised to return in twenty years with her sword and reinforce the seal, and Kikyo agreed to wait for her.
• Kikyo completed the seal, then told Sakura, Inuyasha, and Saku she was going to find Chiyo and ask about his promise to her.
• Kikyo left a wisp of Spiritual Power from the Charm in Sakura's Qinglan Sword and gave Sakura and Inuyasha advice before departing north.
• Inuyasha led Sakura and Saku east to continue their training on the road.

Kikyo crossed into the Western Country alone, fighting off demons who tried to stop her while insisting she only wanted to see Chiyo. As more than a hundred powerful demons surrounded her, Chiyo appeared and ordered them to leave, greeting Kikyo with “Long time no see!”

• Kikyo entered the Western Country and cut Yazan without killing him when he blocked her path.
• Kikyo defeated five wolf demons with arrows and warned them she only wanted to find Chiyo.
• Kumakiba confronted Kikyo with an elite border force, but she explained that she had spared the demons because they carried no evil aura.
• More than a hundred powerful demons gathered and surrounded Kikyo as the Tiger Demon threatened her.
• Chiyo descended from the sky, ordered the demons to leave, and greeted Kikyo.

Kikyo reunited with Chiyo after he drove off the demons and brought her to the Western Country’s special zone, a peaceful settlement for demons and Half-demons. Chiyo explained why he had not appeared when she called, and Kikyo left knowing he had remembered and supported her all along.

• After the demons retreated, Kikyo confronted Chiyo for sending Spiritual Power through her Charm instead of coming to help her in person.
• Chiyo led Kikyo to a peaceful town in the Western Country, where demons and Half-demons lived under his laws.
• Kikyo saw Half-demons living freely and learned that Kanade Hime had once lived in the settlement for three years.
• At Chiyo’s courtyard, he told Kikyo that appearing whenever she called would have made her depend on him instead of learning to endure on her own.
• Chiyo returned Kikyo’s Charm and revealed he had replenished it with Spiritual Power every year; Kikyo admitted she feared being forgotten, and Chiyo told her he remembered her.

Kikyo learned that Chiyo had quietly cared for her for years, from renewing her charm’s Spiritual Power to leaving supplies along her travels. The two shared a quiet morning at his home, where Kikyo left with the warmth of his unspoken devotion.

• Kikyo asked Chiyo about the charm, and he confirmed that he renewed its Spiritual Power every year.
• The next morning, Chiyo prepared porridge and warm washing water for Kikyo, who was moved by his care.
• Kikyo asked whether Chiyo had left her rations beside a river ten years earlier, and he avoided directly answering.
• Kikyo recalled other unexplained help on her journeys, including charcoal, arrows, and healing herbs, and realized Chiyo had provided them.
• Kikyo asked Chiyo why he had never told her, then returned to finish her porridge as it grew cold.

Kikyo explored Chiyo’s valley, learned chess from the half-demon child Xiao Shi, and helped Chiyo prepare lunch. As she shared stories of her lonely life as a miko, Chiyo asked whether she knew about the Four Souls Jewel.

• Kikyo walked through the valley and met Xiao Shi, a half-demon child playing chess alone.
• Kikyo asked Xiao Shi to teach her chess, and he told her his mother was dead and he did not know where his father was.
• Kikyo returned to the courtyard, where Chiyo taught her how to chop vegetables as they prepared lunch.
• Kikyo and Chiyo ate together, and Kikyo described her travels, the people she had met, and how tired she felt following her path as a miko.
• Chiyo poured Kikyo wine he had brewed himself and asked whether she knew about the Four Souls Jewel.

Chiyo told Kikyo that he created the Four Souls Jewel to observe how humans and demons responded to power, then explained his plan to use it to absorb the world’s evil aura. He intended to reclaim the corrupted jewel and use it to break through to Emperor Level, leaving Kikyo shocked by his goal.

• Chiyo revealed that he had created the Four Souls Jewel more than ten years earlier to observe humans and demons, and later reclaimed it after it became corrupted by greed and bloodshed.
• Chiyo told Kikyo that he planned to throw the jewel out again, and Kikyo challenged him over the idea.
• Chiyo explained that evil aura formed from negative emotions and fueled conflict among humans and demons.
• Chiyo said the Four Souls Jewel could absorb that evil aura, which he planned to collect inside it before taking the jewel back.
• Chiyo revealed that he wanted to use the jewel to break through from Emperor-level Great Demon to Emperor Level, and Kikyo asked if he wanted to become Emperor Level.

Chiyo explained to Kikyo his plan to use the Four Souls Jewel to absorb evil aura, reach Emperor Level, and cleanse its source from the world. Kikyo agreed to keep his secret, and as she prepared to leave the next day, she asked Chiyo to teach her cooking before embracing and kissing him.

• Chiyo told Kikyo that Emperor Level power could cleanse all existing evil aura and its source, and described his plan involving the Four Souls Jewel.
• Kikyo questioned the risks of the Jewel being abused, and Chiyo promised to monitor it and intervene if necessary.
• Chiyo said he was waiting for the right vessel to carry the Jewel, while Kikyo guessed he had someone in mind but did not press him.
• When Kikyo asked why he trusted her with the plan, Chiyo said it was because she was a priestess with the same goal and because she was Kikyo; she promised to keep it secret.
• Chiyo asked whether Kikyo was leaving, and she confirmed she would depart the next day; he offered to cook for her, and she asked him to teach her.
• Kikyo admitted she had pretended not to know how to cut vegetables so Chiyo would teach her, then hugged and kissed him.

Kikyo left the valley after a year with Chiyo, and Chiyo prepared to secretly observe the Four Souls Jewel. He appointed Toga to govern the Western Country during his seclusion, then sent the jewel north and disappeared into the outside world as an ordinary demon.

• Kikyo said goodbye to Chiyo, left him a letter saying she would miss him, and departed the valley.
• Chiyo announced to the Dog Demon Tribe that he was going into seclusion and put Toga in charge of the Western Country, with the old Fox Demon assisting him.
• Chiyo told Toga he would leave that night and did not know when he would return.
• Chiyo released the purified Four Souls Jewel, which flew north across the night sky.
• Chiyo left the valley disguised as an ordinary demon so he could watch the Four Souls Jewel evolve.

Chiyo watched as the Four Souls Jewel drew demons into slaughter, became polluted by their evil aura, and empowered the Wolf Demon Black Arashi. After Black Arashi reached King-level strength and challenged the Northern Fire Bear King, their battle escalated as both fought for their lives and the jewel.

• The Four Souls Jewel lured three Wolf Demons into a fight, and the surviving Wolf Demon took the jewel, which turned black as it absorbed their greed and slaughter.
• The Wolf Demon swallowed the Four Souls Jewel, gained immense power, and became known as Black Arashi as he killed demons on his way north.
• Black Arashi confronted the Northern Fire Bear King, whose subordinate he killed, and declared his intent to avenge his Clan Members.
• Black Arashi and the Northern Fire Bear King clashed, and Black Arashi wounded the king before his power rose to King-level.
• The Northern Fire Bear King summoned a halberd and charged at Black Arashi, determined to kill him and take the Four Souls Jewel.

Black Arashi survived Fire Bear King's self-destruction because the Four Souls Jewel healed its shattered body, drawing the attention of the Northern Territory's powerful demons. When Black Armor King and the Gray Robed Man attacked to seize the jewel, an unseen barrier stopped them, and a voice challenged the two kings.

• Black Arashi killed Fire Bear King, who detonated his Demonic Power core and destroyed everything within ten miles.
• The Four Souls Jewel kept Black Arashi alive and slowly healed its terrible injuries, while Chiyo retreated as powerful demons approached.
• Black Armor King and the Gray Robed Man arrived at the crater, recognized the Four Souls Jewel, and drew a crowd of greedy demons.
• Black Armor King and the Gray Robed Man agreed to join forces and attacked Black Arashi to take the jewel.
• An invisible barrier blocked both attacks, and an unseen voice asked Black Armor King and the Gray Robed Man why they were in such a hurry.

Toga arrived after the Fire Bear King's self-detonation shook the Western Country's border and challenged Black Armor King over the Four Souls Jewel. Black Arashi transformed into a being with perfect control of its power, and Toga suspected it had reached the peak of the king level.

• Toga arrived at the deep pit with a dozen Great Demon-level followers and said the shockwave had drawn him to the Northern Territory.
• Toga and Black Armor King prepared to fight over the Four Souls Jewel as the Gray Robed Man joined them.
• Black Arashi stood despite its injuries and declared that the Four Souls Jewel belonged to it, then used its red light to engulf and refine more than a hundred demons.
• Black Armor King and the Gray Robed Man attacked Black Arashi, but the red cocoon burst and revealed a hairless, humanoid figure with the Four Souls Jewel embedded in its chest.
• Toga sensed that the transformed figure kept all its power contained and estimated that it had reached the peak of the king level.

Black Arashi fought Toga and the Gray Robed Man with power drawn from the Four Souls Jewel, but the jewel went out of control and Black Arashi exploded, opening a rift to another world. Chiyo caught Kagome Higurashi as she fell through, took control of the still-intact jewel, and vanished with her.

• Black Arashi crippled the Black Armor King and severely injured the Gray Robed Man before Toga struck him repeatedly and identified his strength as close to Emperor-level.
• Toga and the Gray Robed Man tried to stall Black Arashi, but the Four Souls Jewel's power began to fade, then surged as the jewel went out of control from absorbing too much evil aura.
• Black Arashi swelled and exploded, releasing black liquid and opening a rift to another world.
• Kagome Higurashi fell from the rift toward the demons, and Chiyo appeared beneath her and caught her.
• Chiyo sent the cracked Four Souls Jewel flying south, then vanished while holding Kagome.