Xia Ji

In the woods, the corpses of demons lay scattered across the ground, red blood soaking the grass.

A young girl in a luxurious kimono sat on the ground with her legs tucked into a W-shape, her face filled with terror as she looked ahead—or more accurately, at the pink-haired girl standing before her, holding a katana with a bloodthirsty expression.

The girl had a pair of long ears atop her head, indicating she was no ordinary human, yet she wore sacred shrine maiden robes, however revealing they might be.

The girl could not understand why she had encountered such terrifying demons on her way back from Kyoto, especially when it was not yet dark—there was still some time before the hour of the demon.

Yet, she had run into so many.

The samurai who had been protecting her were all slaughtered by the demons, and it was only through their desperate efforts that she had managed to flee this far.

But how could an ordinary human, especially a delicate young girl, outrun demons? In the end, she had been caught.

Now, although the demons were dead, a more powerful half-demon had appeared, and she did not know how this half-demon would treat her.

However, compared to being torn apart and eaten by the previous terrifying demons, being eaten by this "beautiful" half-demon did not seem entirely unacceptable.

If it were just a half-demon, perhaps she could at least leave behind a relatively intact corpse.

The beautiful half-demon shrine maiden had no idea what the girl in the kimono was thinking, but right now, Yae Sakura—she would go by whatever name her current identity dictated to avoid awkwardness—had discovered a way to earn Crystals.

A notification sound had just echoed in Yae Sakura's ears.

[First demon kill confirmed. Reward: 10 Crystals]

Crystals! These were the most important things to Yae Sakura. Since she had transmigrated while carrying the account she had played for years, she lacked nothing in terms of weapons, equipment, or gold.

She only lacked Crystals.

She needed 2,400 Crystals to unlock the next world, but before that, she had to complete all the main story quests.

Otherwise, even with enough Crystals, she could not open a new world.

Furthermore, besides opening new worlds, Crystals could also be used to enhance her strength.

Her current role as Flame Sakitama was fully maxed out, but most of her other characters were not!

Especially the Herrscher of the Void Kiana she had just pulled, who was only level 1.

After all, maxed-out characters were the minority.

And as long as she had enough Crystals, new characters could be instantly leveled to the cap.

So, Crystals were vital.

Perhaps because it was her first time killing a monster, Yae Sakura received some additional information.

She really could return to her original world; as long as she unlocked all the Valkyries, she could go back.

Unlocking new Valkyries required opening new worlds. Each world unlocked a random Valkyrie, and she would have to live using that Valkyrie's abilities within that world.

How many Valkyries were there in total?

Even just counting Yae Sakura's own forms, there were three, and other characters had several as well.

She did not know if she could hold on for that long, but the moment she thought of her cute little sister, she knew she had to go back no matter what!

She could not let her little sister be taken by someone else.

However, there was one piece of good news: once she unlocked all the Valkyries and returned to her original world, only one hour would have passed in her own world.

In other words, her little sister would not be cheapened by anyone else!

One had to know that her little sister was not actually related by blood.

For now, the first unlocked Valkyrie was the fully maxed-out Flame Sakitama. Her luck was quite good!

If it had been the level 1 Herrscher of the Void Kiana, she would have had a headache.

To avoid being helpless when she eventually became the Herrscher of the Void, she should earn a few more Crystals now!

Crystals were omnipotent; they could raise levels and purchase Valkyrie fragments. The base Herrscher of the Void was only an S-rank Valkyrie.

Finished with her thoughts, Yae Sakura regained her focus and looked at the terrified girl in the kimono not far away.

The girl wore a rather opulent kimono, likely made of exquisite silk, which made her look quite beautiful.

In this era, dressing so well meant she was clearly no ordinary person.

She was either the daughter of a wealthy merchant or a noble.

Yae Sakura strolled over and arrived beside the girl. The girl kept her head down, not daring to look at Yae Sakura, her body trembling slightly.

She seemed terrified of Yae Sakura.

"Are you afraid of me?"

Yae Sakura sheathed her spirit blade and looked down at the girl. Her appearance was still extremely beautiful, no worse than her own little sister.

She looked to be about thirteen years old.

But in this era, thirteen was already considered an adult!

"N-no... I dare not!"

Hearing Yae Sakura's voice, the girl seemed startled and hurriedly denied it.

"Get up and speak!"

Although she knew this was the world of Inuyasha, Yae Sakura was not yet sure of the exact timeline. It would be best if someone could give her an introduction.

"...Yes, Demon Lord!"

The girl was silent for a moment, then carefully stood up, but she still kept her head bowed low, as if she wished to bury it in her chest.

"Look at me!"

Yae Sakura continued in a cold, aloof tone.

If she hadn't turned into a girl, would she really be using this tone with such a beautiful girl in a kimono standing before her? Even if she wouldn't become a sycophant, she probably wouldn't be this cold.

"..."

Although Yae Sakura's tone was commanding, the girl still kept her head down, not daring to meet her gaze.

"Am I that scary?" The girl's behavior puzzled Yae Sakura. She was currently in her Yae Sakura form, and she was so cute... how could the girl still be afraid?

Was she even human?

How could anyone be afraid of such a cute fox-eared girl?

"N-no... not scary... Demon Lord, you are very beautiful!" The girl stammered again, but despite saying this, she still did not look up.

Yae Sakura reached out, placed a hand under the girl's chin, and lifted it.

Looking closely, she was even more beautiful than she had first appeared.

"What is your name?"

"Xia... Xia Ji..." With her chin hooked by Yae Sakura, the girl seemed to blush. She hesitated for a moment before replying.

"Xia Ji?"

Could she be the legendary Xia Ji?

"Ji? Are you a princess?"

The title of Ji was not something just anyone could use; generally, it was reserved for princesses.

However, in the East, the daughter of a castle lord was also called a princess and could use the title of Ji.

To distinguish between the Emperor's daughters and those of ordinary daimyo or castle lords, the Emperor's princesses were also called Imperial Princesses.