Although Sakumura, Musashi, and Kotarou had taken turns explaining things in considerable detail, somehow...
Danzo found herself understanding less and less.
The subject matter kept growing deeper. Some things were hard to believe unless you had witnessed them firsthand, so even Muramasa himself looked utterly bewildered.
"Quit talking all mystical and cryptic. Can't you put it in terms this old man can understand?"
"So, um..."
Danzo hesitantly spoke up.
"According to Lady Musashi, does that mean demons are no different from so-called 'Heroic Spirits'?"
"They are merely similar." Kotarou shook his head. "What Lady Musashi means is that they share certain points in common, not that they are the same thing."
"Whether from my own subjective perspective or an objective one, their essences are absolutely different."
Musashi continued.
"After all, Heroic Spirits are fundamentally incarnations of heroes. I don't think the difference between heroes and demons requires much explanation. Demons are beings that can never coexist with humanity on the scale of an entire species."
"Be it madness-like resentment, endless greed, or the pursuit of sickening pleasure—demons inevitably seek things humans cannot understand. Without that, they would not be demons."
Perhaps it was a case of speaking of the devil, because the moment Musashi finished speaking, a sound came from the woods.
A roar.
It was accompanied by a sensation of resentment that made their skin crawl.
"Perhaps we should not be discussing demons in a place like this."
Sakumura drew Crane Feather from his waist.
There was no doubt that this was another one of the monsters Minamoto no Raikou and Shuten Douji had stationed along their route to obstruct them.
"Damn it, talk about demons and a demon shows up. How annoying! Let's exterminate it already!"
With Sakumura and Musashi's strength, a mere demon—even a large specimen formed