Chapter 36:Festival in advance 10

Inside the castle which is composed of enclosed spaces, narrow corridors and small rooms, making it a complete hardship to use a long range weapon such as the one used by the young priestess. With all these factors against her, she still proceeds with calculated and calm steps through the structure. 

Stretching the bowstring completely, ignoring her wet suit, wet hair which is dripping from the rain and making her eyes completely determined. She lets out her arrow into one of the multiple paper doors before a piercing scream spreads from within. 

Kikyo pov.

Catching the eradication of the negative energy inside the room, I retract my left hand back to the level of my waist and begin to advance through the castle's corridors slowly.

It was an easy path to the depths, the vast majority of the yokais were attracted by the conglomeration of soldiers and monks on the wall, making him have a clear path. Stopping analyzing the situation and entering the deeper area of the structure, he observed how the atmosphere in the surroundings starts to become silent, depressive and even darker, making it apparent that the negative energy has already spread throughout the place. 

"Human! ¡Hehehe Human Priestess!"

Looking towards the direction where that shrill voice is coming from, I manage to see something that can be considered the fusion between a human and a snake. It was like a dark colored fleshy snake, red eyes embedded in a human face and rib-like bones protruding from its center to stick into the top of the cavern. 

"No~ Are you even~"

Without letting it finish its elongated words, it shot quickly and without hesitation towards its human head, leaving a stump of misshaped flesh in that place. After my arrow completely tore off his head, the remains of it transformed into dark particles that then formed a corrosive mist. It was a miasma that quickly occupied the entire surrounding area, although it was easily removed thanks to a barrier that was erected in a few moments.

"What~ Keeps you in this world~"

Shooting a quick arrow towards where he heard the voice come from, the demonic miasma is purified, opening a path to observe the surroundings briefly. This void is quickly filled by more miasma and after a few moments, I could hear the sound of the arrow as it sticks into a rocky surface. 

"How aggressive~ Well what can you expect from a hoard of negative spirits~"

Trailing his serpentine voice, which was extremely persuasive and threatening to drag me back to my old doubts. I begin to reduce the barrier's width, though not its power, letting the miasma advance at the same time as its dragging movements are heard closer.

"That's right~ After consuming so many soul fragments... you're even still yourself~ How will the people you know look at you knowing that you absorb souls of innocent young people to keep you in this world~"

Is he right... Because of my selfish wish they can't rest in peace and leave this world. Why does my wish take priority over theirs? Am I still human... I want to be human... Hahaha that's why I let him follow me even if he is a demon, as long as one treats you like a normal person you will be one. 

Letting out a small laugh full of irony at myself, I feel the barrier momentarily wobble, causing the sounds of dragging along the ground to disappear and the surrounding smoke to billow. I may have been lost in my thoughts, but that doesn't reduce my combat effectiveness and as a sign of this, I stabilize the barrier easily before widening it at full speed. 

"Aghw. Damn puppet!"

Hearing his pitiful cry, seeing the pink particles starting to float freely and the smoke starting to disperse. I explode the barrier, purifying the surroundings thanks to its remaining energy, then shoot an arrow towards a piece of flesh. More precisely the tail of the snake, which is connected to the wooden door and by separating it from the wooden door, can be purified separately.

"Time to finish this."

Walking through the cave until he reached the area where the wooden door was located and completely ignoring the corpse of the devoured guard, he placed an arrow in the bow before aiming towards the open door. The negative energy in there was incredibly dense, the only thing that could be seen was the corpse of a half-eaten corpse of a demon in human form and a wooden mask from which a small glow protrudes. 

Considering my situation, the most indicated thing to do was to use all my remaining energy to purify everything at the same time, be it the remains of the demon or the fragment. Making the decision and without further hesitation, I released my arrow that purifies everything extremely fast and just as fast was the weakness that enveloped my whole body. It was as if I was drained of all energy, making standing up an extremely difficult, though not impossible and with that said I start walking towards the surface reaching one of the multiple corridors. 

"You look terrible and look, I'm not one to talk."

Appearing from one of the side corridors at a speed that could be considered normal, though if you've spent time with him you may notice that each step now spans about three of the common ones. I watched him as my brow furrowed slightly.

"Do you mean because of those sporadic tremors? Because of your unearthly pallor?"

"Wow, you'll make me blush if you continue with such concern. Hahaha, kidding... Haaa I went a little overboard. 

Still with his usual calm movements and energetic voice, I could easily tell the differences by looking at him in a bit more detail. His face was slightly pale, while the ends of his hair were wet and the hand he used to stroke his chin was shaking every now and then. 

"Don't look at me like that, it really wasn't a big deal. It's more like your situation than you might think."

Taking away all the importance of her current situation, while smiling slightly, she quickly approaches my side as if she has some plan and extends her arm. 

"What?"

Staring at his arm and looking directly into his blue eyes, I remain static for a few seconds before a few hesitant words escape my lips. 

"It looks like a little wind will knock you down and I'm not one to talk considering my situation, but if you add to it the lack of energy I sense in you, it seems only fitting that I lend my arm for support. Of course I have thought of using my tails, but some soldiers were following me and"

Noticing that his words are truthful in this situation and that he seems to be giving even more right reasons, I look at him for a few seconds before extending my arm over his shoulder, then gently leaning my body on it. 

It was warm next to him, not his physical body but something more spiritual... I could feel how the few fragments of souls inside me seemed to calm down and even the remnants of positive energy in my body seemed to increase slightly. 

"What 's wrong?"

Lifting my face to look into his eyes, I can notice the doubt contained within them at seeing me held in this way and unable to resist asking him the obvious.

"Nothing. It came out better than I expected and I don't plan to complain about the result."

Placing a wide smile on his lips and ending the clash of looks between us, he begins to slowly walk forward as a warm current runs through my body and I feel my hair dry at the same time as my attire. 

"Thank you..."

"Small details."