Chapter 55

As the snake-like beast jumped right at them, I was frozen in place.

Why? Why couldn’t I move? Why couldn’t I run up to them and save them?

Aomade extends his hand. Right in front of the two, a glowing, bright light appears. Neither Aki, nor I, nor the Jinja-Hime can see clearly as the light is so, so bright.

The Jinjia-Hime dashes right at them despite that. It does not care whether or not it can spot its enemies, as long as it knows roughly where they are. I used to believe that Yokai have no mind of their own. I thought they would live only for killing and not have any other goal besides it. However, after meeting and talking with Kida… I am not so sure about that anymore.

Perhaps… Yokai are far more similar to humans than I had once thought? Kida, for example… She was perfectly human. Nothing about her was off or anything like that. Yet, she is of the same species as this beast, attacking directly even if it means that it will end up blind.

Even if the Yokai will end up killing them - which I won’t allow - then it won’t be able to keep on living. Even hunting and murdering humans will be next to impossible after turning blind and getting its body burned. Yet, it does attack.

So does it not have a mind of its own? Do only certain Yokai actually have a real mind and can actually think? Or… is it perhaps different?

If it is different, then that means that even this Jinja-Hime does have a mind of its own… And chooses to sacrifice its entire life following those events for nothing more than beating the two of them?

Kida was no different either: Even if I never truly understood what her reasons were, to achieve her goals she went ahead and just… sacrificed her entire life, even if it was fake.

She killed her teachers. Her classmates. She even killed - at least it sounded like that when she said it - her very closest friends.

She… sacrificed it all. Just to get closer to her goal.

…
Ah.

I understand it now.

If one really wants to achieve their goal… for whatever reasons there are… then they must be willing to sacrifice something. No, that is not enough.

You certainly must sacrifice something. Precisely because you sacrifice something will you have a chance to achieve that which you desire.

The Jinja-Hima directly strikes at them. Aomade walks back a step and pushes Aki backwards as well. He can see clearly and thus the two of them evade the incoming attack pretty easily.

But it does not stop.

The Jinja-Hime realizes that its attack did not meet his enemies. And thus, it begins anew. Thus, it attacks once more, not hesitating and not thinking about any consequences.

Aomade can easily evade the attack again. And he yanks Aki around and makes her evade as well.

I can’t see clearly, thus I do not understand it. But Aomade, who can see clearly and is a part of the battle does realize it:

Despite the enemy being hurt again and again by the light he created, it will most certainly not die through the light. And it will most certainly keep on attacking. Thus, Aomade will keep on evading. There is no problem up until this point. The problem is Aki herself: After all, just like the Jinja-Hime, she can’t see. Aomade does cover that by yanking her around, but this also makes him more exhausted. And he cannot fully control it. The chance is high that he messes up and Aki falls to the ground, where she will be an easy victim.

Aomade quietly says something. Aki hesitates, then she nods.

The light vanishes. I can clearly see what happens.

The eyes of the Jinja-Hime have been fully burned, just like most of its body. Aki opens her eyes again and the light that Aomade had just created is manifested at one single point. Aki holds all of this light in her hand. It does instantly take on the form of an arrow.

Before she can shoot that arrow at the Jinja-Hime, however, it strikes.

It bites Aomade… well, it plans to. Aomade jumps to the side, however the tail of the beast strikes at this very second.

And thus, it pierces directly through Aomade’s chest. He spews blood as his heart is pierced and placed on the end of the tail.

As a single tear drops from Aki’s face, out of her eye, across her cheek and onto the very ground itself, the arrow of pure light flies at the Jinja-Hime.

It hits and the beast slowly falls to the ground.

Aki falls to her knees. She screams out.

I slowly walk over to her. I do not want to take away any spotlight.

With a single hit, Aomade has died.

…

However, the Jinja-Hime rises once more.