"A miko?"
Kikyo looked at Yae Sakura before her, her brow furrowing.
She felt... that Yae Sakura was insulting the very profession of miko.
It wasn't because Yae Sakura was a half-demon. Though Kikyo had driven off countless demons, she didn't discriminate against half-demons—not if they weren't evil. Sometimes, she even felt sorry for them.
Half-demons born from the union of a demon and a human were, for the most part, pitiful creatures.
Kikyo had met many evil and spiteful half-demons, as well as many innocent and kind ones whose lives were wretched.
It was just... when Kikyo looked at Yae Sakura's outfit...
It seemed to be in the style of a miko's robes, but the skirt on the bottom... was shockingly short!
Kikyo had never heard of such a shameless miko's outfit.
Miko were supposed to be sacred and pure. And even ordinary women wouldn't dress like that, let alone a miko!
As a fellow miko, Kikyo couldn't accept it!
"I really am a miko! It's just that..."
"I'm a miko who slew the god I once worshipped!! In other words... a Flame Sakitama!!!"
Yae Sakura didn't care in the slightest as she coolly declared herself a Flame Sakitama.
"What?"
At her words, Kikyo's eyes widened. The arrow she had aimed at Yae Sakura immediately shot toward her, brimming with spiritual power.
For a miko to slay the god she worshipped was far too dangerous!
"This attack isn't enough!"
Sword Intent: Heart of Remnant!
Yae Sakura blinked, and in an instant, everything around her seemed to slow down.
In the game, Zanshin was an ability that increased one's attack speed after an extreme evasion.
But... now that she was no longer in the game, Zanshin had become a sword intent mastered by a Flame Sakitama.
It was as if she'd gained the eyes of a fly: all movement around her slowed to a crawl. A second to an ordinary person became several—or even more than ten—times longer once she activated Sword Intent: Heart of Remnant.
So... the arrow Kikyo had shot at Yae Sakura suddenly seemed to move very slowly.
When Kikyo's Exorcism Arrow was only half a meter away, Yae Sakura drew her blade in an instant...
A flash of steel...
The Exorcism Arrow was cut in two!
The arrow in Kikyo's hand was ordinary, merely imbued with her special spiritual power. It was no match for the Spirit Blade: Sakura Blizzard.
But to Kikyo, it looked as if Yae Sakura had barely moved her hand before her Exorcism Arrow disappeared.
Kikyo hadn't even registered how quickly Yae Sakura had drawn and sheathed her blade.
But when her attack missed, Kikyo didn't give up... She immediately shot another arrow, then turned and ran...
Kikyo was kind and tolerant toward others, gentle with the weak, and selflessly devoted to those around her. But in battle, she could also calmly assess her opponent's intentions and the situation at hand.
Knowing she wasn't a match for her opponent, yet staying behind to die, would have been foolish.
As she prepared to retreat, Kikyo kept guarding against Yae Sakura's pursuit.
But...
"Flash Step!"
Yae Sakura locked onto Kikyo and used the Flame Sakitama's signature ability, Flash Step...
After charging up, she flashed through her enemy and appeared behind them.
It was an utterly broken ability.
Unlike in the game, once she was out of it, Flash Step could lock onto any target within her line of sight and instantly take her to their back.
It was a completely unreasonable ability.
So... even though Kikyo was nearly seven hundred meters away, Yae Sakura instantly transformed into a streak of sword light and appeared behind her.
But... because Yae Sakura controlled her attack, the sword light didn't hurt Kikyo.
Yae Sakura appeared behind Kikyo in an instant. Kikyo hadn't even reacted... Her body paused for a moment before she caught on, then kicked at Yae Sakura.
Kikyo's greatest strengths were her archery, barriers, and exorcism and sealing techniques, but she wasn't helpless in close combat either.
Yae Sakura casually blocked Kikyo's kick.
As a close-combat Valkyrie, how could a long-range archer possibly be her match? Even without using her Spirit Blade, Yae Sakura quickly subdued Kikyo with her bare hands.
"You've lost!"
Yae Sakura let go of Kikyo and stepped back a few paces. She hadn't intended to do anything to her.
"Y-you... what do you want?"
Kikyo looked at Yae Sakura, surprised. She didn't understand what she meant. Yae Sakura had already defeated her and could have ended her with a single strike.
So why... was she letting her go?
"I don't want anything from you. You were the one who attacked first!" Yae Sakura shrugged. She'd never intended to do anything to Kikyo.
It wasn't because Kikyo was one of Inuyasha's heroines. Rather... compared with Xia Ji, Kikyo was undoubtedly a far more attractive lure for demons, especially when she had the Jewel of Four Souls. Countless demons would come after it.
She could complete her task of killing ten thousand demons in no time.
It was just... Kikyo didn't seem to have the Jewel of Four Souls.
According to what the demon had said earlier, Kikyo hadn't obtained the Jewel of Four Souls yet.
If so, why not wait until Kikyo got it, then use her to draw out demons? Wouldn't that be much faster?
But before that, she couldn't let things get too bad between her and Kikyo, even if they weren't exactly on good terms.
"..."
Kikyo looked at Yae Sakura in silence...
It was true that she had attacked first. But... surely a miko who had slain the god she worshipped had to be evil, didn't she?
But now, Kikyo wasn't so sure. For the moment, Yae Sakura didn't seem to be evil.
"Do you know why I killed the god I worshipped?" Yae Sakura seemed to guess what Kikyo was thinking and suddenly asked her.
"..."
Kikyo was taken aback by Yae Sakura's words... Was there more to the story? She said nothing, but curiosity lingered in her eyes.
"Because it was a fallen evil god. It wasn't a god... but a fox demon. I used to be human, too. It was because of that creature that I became what I am now."
"A fallen evil god..."
Kikyo looked at Yae Sakura. Though she didn't believe her completely, her attitude toward Yae Sakura had softened considerably.
If that was the reason, then what Yae Sakura had done was understandable.