I transformed into a demonic spider lily.

boom--!

A surge of spiritual energy transformed into a fierce storm, dispersing the blood mist and clearing away the magic projectiles of the spider lily. Only the posture of Kikyo drawing her bow remained, frozen like a painting. Six arrows had already been shot out in succession in front of her, and the seventh arrow was aimed at the direction of the spider lily.

call out--!

You must not be hit by that arrow.

The other shore flower thought to herself that she could feel the strong spiritual power contained in that arrow. If she were hit, she would definitely be sealed. The other six arrows were also similar, but their angles were not tricky enough. If she took a step back, they would at most tear her clothes.

Yes, this is the best choice.

So the spider lily retreated a distance.

Seeing this, Kikyo's lips curled up slightly.

Just as the red spider lily predicted, she dodged the most dangerous arrow; six arrows pierced through the hem of her clothes, but she forgot about the tree behind her.

Ding, ding ding ding ding—!

The arrow pierced through her clothes and embedded itself in the tree trunk. The spider lily scoffed inwardly and tried to pull out the arrow to continue fighting the bellflower, but she couldn't lift her hands.

My body... I can't move it at all...

The spiritual energy attached to the arrow gradually spread outwards, completely suppressing her demonic body. Although it didn't reach the point of sealing her, it was close enough.

It will take some time to break free.

Chapter Four: Soul Guardians and Tomb Guardians

"I won." Kikyo said, putting down her longbow after the battle ended.

"Heh, heh hahahahahaha."

Upon hearing this, the spider lily nailed to the tree trunk suddenly burst into laughter for some reason. She said, "Although I wanted to maintain the rules of the forest, since I have been defeated here, there is nothing I can do. Human priestess, Kikyo, you can leave now. I don't think any demon will dare to stop you until I break free from your control..."

This is probably the best outcome. As the loser, one can tolerate the other party's offense, so there is no implication of deliberate favoritism.

As the overlord of the forest, one must first maintain aloofness, and secondly, one must be decisive and abide by the rules once they are set. No one should be allowed to tolerate or indulge her.

Walk faster, walk faster, walk faster.

Having finally found a reason to step down, Higanbana didn't care about her defeat at all. Instead, she felt completely relaxed. So she looked up at Kikyo standing opposite her, only to see that Kikyo hadn't left but was walking towards her instead.

"Heh, what are you trying to do? Are you trying to seal me away? Don't think that just because you've restricted me with spiritual power you can do whatever you want to me. I'm not so weak that I can't fight back against this level of spiritual power!"

Seeing this, the expression on the other side of the flower gradually became serious. She then used her demonic power to squeeze blood out of the wound on her wrist. The flowing blood boiled and made a "hissing" sound when it hit the ground, showing that her demonic power was obviously increasing. Her limit was not as simple as it had been before. As long as she exhausted her life, she could gain even stronger power.

This is the Soul of the Tomb Guardian!

[Tomb Guardian (Two-Star): Increases all attributes by 0.5% for every 1% decrease in HP percentage.]

Although the spider lily is no match for Kikyo, battles are never decided by a one-on-one duel. If she wanted, she could instantly mobilize thousands of N-rank demons. This forest has nothing but a bunch of lowly demons. Even if they don't all obey her orders, if the opponent wields the Shikon Jewel, then there's no need to say more. Those low-rank demons are not like her, able to remain rational in the face of the Shikon Jewel, and will definitely attack her as a group.

You want to seal her away? No way!

In an instant, the spider lily burned its own blood to below the red line, and Kikyo walked up to her, looking at the demon blood burning on the ground.

Are you alright...?

Kikyo pulled out the arrows one by one. There were only a few arrows left in her quiver, so she needed to retrieve them. However, judging from Higanbana's current appearance, she seemed to be bleeding heavily. She shouldn't have hit any vital organs.

"...Ah?"

With all the suppressed arrows pulled out, Higanbana, whose health bar was almost depleted, slumped to the ground, staring blankly at Kikyo. Things seemed to be developing in a way that was not quite what she had imagined.

"Let me see your hands."

After collecting the arrows, Kikyo knelt down to examine Higanbana's right hand. In addition to the palm, which still hadn't recovered from the burn marks, the bloody wound on her wrist had almost stained her entire arm bright red.

Kikyo continued, "You really don't know how to take care of your body. You actually cut yourself so deeply with your hands. Don't you feel any pain?"

"What do you take a monster for? It's not even fatal. At most, it will recover to the point where there won't even be a scar by dusk. Besides, is it really okay for a shrine maiden to be so concerned about a monster?"

The red spider lily tried to pull her hand away, but even with her strong regenerative abilities, she still felt the pain, though her tolerance was better than before.

And the dizziness caused by anemia.

Damn it, they bled too much.

"Aren't you a monster also protecting humans?"

Kikyo took out the prepared herbs from her bosom and applied them to the wounds of the spider lily. Noticing the latter's hesitant expression, she continued, "I know you will definitely refute my words, but the facts prove everything. The villages around the forest have become safer, and the mischievous monsters have all restrained their behavior. I know the situation because you have restricted them, haven't you?"

"I'm just maintaining my rule."

Although Kikyo had predicted her words, Higanbana still stubbornly delivered her lines. She then felt a slight coolness in her right hand, followed by a sharp pain. She couldn't help but complain, "You! You've definitely never applied medicine to anyone before. Your technique is absolutely terrible. I feel like you're going to tear my arm apart."

"You were right once. This kind of herb, which is specifically used to stop bleeding, is usually only used by me. I've always been the one who applies the medicine to myself. Although it hurts a bit, it shouldn't be a problem," Kikyo said with a self-satisfied expression.

"Please don't compare your situation to mine. I rarely get injured, and do you think these human-used herbs would actually work on a monster like me?"

The red spider lily questions this.

"I don't know. I only know that this herb can remove the spiritual power that is eroding your demon body. Although that spiritual power comes from my body, I can't control it, so I can only use this unorthodox method."

Kikyo lowered her head slightly and said apologetically.

"It's not good to be too kind to monsters."

Her gaze shifted to the open space to the side. The spider lily didn't dare to meet the bellflower's eyes, but instead offered a word of advice.

"Thank you for reminding me, I will be careful."

“You have absolutely no ‘attention’.”

Why do you think that?

"If you want me to not 'think' it, at least be more sincere when you reply. Your casual expression and perfunctory tone make it hard for me to believe you."

Is that so?

"Then let me ask you, what did I just say?"

The red spider lily asked a question in return.

"Uh, I forgot..."

Kikyo felt awkward about this, so she changed the subject and said, "Let me ask you a question. That demon mentioned the Shikon Jewel earlier. It's in my possession. Do you have any... opinions about it?"

Kikyo, who originally intended to use the word "persistence" directly, ultimately opted for a more euphemistic description, though the underlying meaning remained largely unchanged.

“No monster can ignore it. If it's in my hands, I'll use its power to strengthen myself. If it's not in my hands…”

As she spoke, the spider lily raised her head to meet the gaze of the bellflower, and continued, "I just fought with you once, and I lost in the end. That's the answer. I was not able to take it from you, that's all."

"Yeah."

Upon hearing this, Kikyo applied the last of the herbs evenly and then stood there with a thoughtful expression.

The spider lily stretched her right hand, feeling much better without the corrosive power of spiritual energy. Then she looked up and saw Kikyo staring intently at her, so she asked, "What is it?"

"Can I ask you for a favor?"

Chapter 5 The Gathering of Monsters

"That's strange, why did we start talking?"

The figure leaned against the tree. Higanbana raised her right hand and saw that Kikyo's arm was tightly wrapped in gauze with an ugly bow tied on it. She fully realized that Kikyo was really incompetent in taking care of people.

but……

"Well, never mind, I'll just consider it a favor I owe you. Feel free to ask for anything, and I won't refuse within my ability."

"Stand up from where you were," said the other shore flower.

"I need your help to exorcise the monster."

Kikyo answered just as readily.

"……Um???"

Wait a minute, isn't something wrong?

Did she hear that right? She must have misheard!

The spider lily couldn't help but look confused, and quickly turned to stare at Kikyo to try to confirm, but the latter's eyes were so sincere that they were saying "you didn't hear wrong", and she even nodded.

"Your spiritual power and intelligence, are they inversely proportional? If you want to exorcise a demon, go find one of your own kind. What's the meaning of coming to a demon like me?!"

Mentioning the word "exterminate" in front of a yokai is blatant sarcasm. Although Higanbana knew that Kikyo didn't mean it that way, she still couldn't help but complain.

"No, no, no, let me explain. Actually, you don't need to do much. It's just that I've been looking for a yokai recently, but I have absolutely no clues. So I thought that since you're also a yokai, you might know something and could provide me with some information. That would be enough assistance." Realizing that her description was incorrect, Kikyo quickly corrected her.

“There are countless monsters in the world. In my forest alone, there are at least five or six thousand monsters, and more than 70% of them are just monstrous monsters with the same face. Unless the monster you are looking for is very strong, I have no way of knowing.” Although she questioned the thought process of the person seeking help from Kikyo, Higanbana sighed and finally decided to help her.

“Her demonic power is indeed very strong. I think even if I were to personally defeat her, it would be very difficult. According to my deduction, that guy should be in this forest.”

Therefore, Kikyo believed that as the overlord of the forest, the spider lily should know something about the situation.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Upon hearing this, Higanbana immediately refuted Kikyo's words, and then said, "You say that guy is strong? Impossible. I have fought all the monsters in the forest, and they are all weak. There is absolutely no one that can make you feel troubled, otherwise I would not be a so-called overlord."

"That shouldn't be the case. The direction from which that monster smashed through a city should be this. Could I have really misjudged it?" Kikyo believed Higanbana's words without a trace of doubt.

Did you just gloss over a very serious matter? That monster that slaughtered its way through an entire city? Is survival already so difficult for humans in this era?

This is truly a topic full of flaws, and the other shore flower continued to ask, "When did that happen?"

About two weeks ago.

Kikyo thought for a moment and then said.

"Your intelligence is quite outdated. You're only dealing with something that happened half a month ago. Even if that monster really came to the forest, it would have already left if it didn't have anything important to do."

With a shrug, the spider lily indicated its helplessness.

"She can't leave, because the Shikon Jewel is still in my hands." Kikyo knew clearly the purpose of the demon who came to seize the jewel.

"Is that so? Then why are you still looking? Just wait for her to come to you," said the other shore flower matter-of-factly.

“No, we can’t. Many people from the villages have recently become victims because of this. I can’t turn a blind eye to it.” Kikyo said righteously, gripping her longbow tightly.

"Alright, alright, the monster that came half a month ago hasn't left yet. I don't know for sure, but many monsters obeyed my orders and returned to the forest during that time, so they should know something about it..."