The Purifying Arrow tore through the air, carrying pure spiritual power. Naraku sensed the danger keenly. Before he could raise a barrier or put away the Four Souls Shard at his fingertips, he pushed off the ground and leaped backward several times. The arrow grazed his hand and purified it, sending the dull black Four Souls Shard falling to the ground. This power, this technique-only a miko like Kikyo possessed them.
Of course, the newcomer was not Kikyo, and Naraku knew it. Kikyo had died fifty years ago. Her arrows had been far fiercer, imbued with the force that came from destroying hundreds upon thousands of demons.
"This woman..." Naraku clutched his right shoulder. His right arm had vanished from the shoulder down. This was the Purifying Arrow. He would never forget it. His face darkened as he looked at the girl approaching nearby. Silver hair, pointed ears-she clearly looked like a monster, yet what she had fired was unmistakably a Purifying Arrow, something only a human miko could use. The spiritual power surrounding her was pure and natural, no different from the clean aura of a human miko and utterly unlike the demonic aura inherent to monsters. More than that, her pristine aura made Naraku even warier than those of human miko and spellcasters.
"Stand back," the silver-haired girl said coldly. She held the wood-colored Longbow upright before her, and a pale green spirit arrow formed at her fair fingertips, secretly astonishing Naraku and putting him further on guard. This was the very power that had purified even his poison and miasma.
"Hmph." What a waste. Naraku sighed inwardly. The black Four Souls Shard he had finally completed lay only a short distance ahead, yet he could not retrieve it. Even if he wanted to attack the girl, the