I'm having fun in Tokyo

However, she didn't care. As long as she could become stronger, it didn't matter where she was. Even after the curfew, she was too lazy to go out again.

That's what she was thinking at the time.

But she is old.

Wrinkles had long since crept onto her beautiful face.

Her once smooth, flowing white hair was now dry and withered like straw, and her body was in a state of decay, devoid of the spirit and strength she once possessed.

Even if she wanted to challenge that limit, she no longer had the chance.

She looked at the sky, murmuring her conversation with Kashima, then sighed and closed her eyes.

February 21st, the second year of Yuangui.

The legendary swordsman Urabe Tomotaka now rests in peace at Kashima Shrine.

It watched her close her eyes, unaware of what had happened. Even after it realized what was happening, it couldn't understand her regret. It only felt an emptiness in its heart, as if it had lost something precious.

It wasn't until later that it understood that it was an emotion in people's hearts called sadness.

After she died, it found her suicide note.

It says to let it take away her sword, the divine weapon Futsu-no-Mitama.

Without the Sword Saint guarding Kashima Shrine, leaving this divine sword here will only arouse people's covetousness.

Following her last wish, it carried the divine sword with it and guarded the Kashima Shrine for ten years under the name "Kashima," issuing a proclamation inviting all swordsmen with the titles of Sword Master and Great Sword Master to come and challenge it.

However, none of these swordsmen were able to defeat it.

Although it did not learn the meaning of human nature from her, nor did it learn the "One-Sword Technique," only remembering the form of the "One-Sword Technique," it was already a demon god proficient in swordsmanship, and even had the title of the Demon God of Swords.

Ten years later, it returned to the Ise Grand Shrine it had visited before, met another generation of shrine maidens, and wanted to know if a human sword saint would appear again.

"You want to ask me if there will ever be another human in the world who has reached the pinnacle of sword sainthood?"

"Yes, Your Highness, the Priestess."

"Yes," the priestess nodded.

"If you look back a thousand years, there is only the sword saint you followed in the world. But if you look forward a thousand years, there will be another sword saint in the world."

How can I see him?

Bearing the title of High Priestess, and being the supreme deity with the power to foresee the future, the young goddess residing high in the shrine remained silent for a moment before looking down at him.

"You will see him. As long as you wait patiently, you will definitely see him, and you will fight him, unleash your strongest strike, and fulfill the wishes of yourself and the others you carry. But you will also die by your own strike. Kashima, the demon god of Izumo, knowing all this, do you still want to see him?"

It thought for a moment and said, "Can I really unleash my strongest strike and fulfill her and my wish?"

She nodded: "Yes."

It nodded: "That's enough."

......

For many reasons, the princess of the previous generation four hundred years ago could not speak of the future, but she still gave it guidance, allowing it to return to the land of Izumo where it originally came from.

It traveled around Izumo and finally came to the Izumo Mountains. It asked the great yokai of the Age of Gods, Masako Kanori, to take it in as a follower so that it could train in swordsmanship in the mountains and wait for the appearance of the sword saint.

Finally, it encountered Ichiro Sakurada.

It had assumed that Sakurada Ichiro was the swordsman it was waiting for, but that was not the case.

Although Ichiro Sakurada was also a swordsmanship genius, he was far inferior to Asataka Urabe. Nevertheless, it admired Ichiro Sakurada and became his close friend.

However, what it didn't expect was that instead of fulfilling Sakurada Ichiro's wish, it saw him die with regret in its eyes.

More than four hundred years have passed. It has learned the "First Sword" and understands what the realm of Sword Saint is. However, it still cannot let go of this matter.

Moreover, being a ghost or deity, it was destined to never reach the level of a sword saint.

The way of the sword is the way of man, not the way of ghosts and gods.

Even if it is called the Demon God of Swords, it is destined never to reach the ultimate of the Way of the Sword.

Unless, one neither becomes a ghost or a god, nor a human.

The demon named Kashima opened its eyes, holding the sacred sword Futsu-no-Mitama, entrusted to it by the sword saint girl who was both its teacher and friend, and divine halos gathered behind it.

These divine halos were extremely dim and faint, covered with cracks, as if they would dissipate and crumble at any moment.

But they have accompanied it for thousands of years, always by its side.

It simply stopped using them and constantly sought to rid itself of them and escape divinity.

But now it has once again unleashed their power, revealing them.

Because it finally made up its mind.

It fought countless battles, but suffered only two defeats.

He was defeated once by a sword saint girl named Urabe Asataka due to the difference in strength.

He was defeated by himself once, because of his hesitation, which disappointed his best friend Sakurada Ichiro, and he watched with his own eyes as the other died with regret in his eyes.

It no longer carries only its own fate, but also their last wishes and regrets.

It aims to fulfill their last wishes and resolve their regrets.

It recalled the faces of Urabe Asataka and Sakurada Ichiro, then looked at its own body, its gaze growing increasingly resolute.

Having persevered this far, I'm probably nearing my limit.

Since that's the case, then in front of Morikawa Yu, the living sword saint, I will use my last strength, abandon my last bit of demonic power, gamble everything, and unleash that ultimate and most powerful strike.

Even if I perish and vanish after this strike, as long as I can fulfill their wishes, that will be enough...

In the distance, Ichiro Sakurada stared at Kashima, a strange feeling stirring within him.

Although he didn't know whether Kashima was the demon who had learned all the sword techniques of the sword saint Urabe Asataka, Kashima seemed to recognize him, and his gaze towards him was quite complicated.

Looking at Kashima's figure now, he didn't know what Kashima wanted to do, but he felt a great sense of loss.

This feeling made him very uncomfortable, but he couldn't put it into words.

On the other side, Morikawa Yu was also stunned for a moment.

He saw a faint white shadow appear on Kashima's shoulder.

She appeared to be a tall, elegant young woman with long white hair tied back, beautiful features, and an air of pride.

The girl had a long sword at her waist, which was very similar to the divine sword, Futsu-no-Mitama, in Kashima's hand, only much smaller, and the blade was also a phantom.

The girl looked at Morikawa Yu with a scrutinizing gaze, seemingly not quite satisfied, but in the end she nodded.

Morikawa Yu was startled.

The girl simply smiled, pressed down on Kashima's shoulder from behind, and her figure transformed into a stream of light, merging into Kashima's form.

Just as the stream of light she transformed into merged into Kashima's back, the golden lettering above Kashima's head seemed to change.

Originally, Kashima had a level 18 status assessment above his head, but now that level 18 assessment is gone, as if it had suddenly disappeared.

The golden word "Pilgrimage" on its head has also changed, becoming pure gold.

The wording also changed from two characters to three characters: "朝闻道".

Although there was no explanation behind those three words, Morikawa Yu knew from the pure golden light that this determination was far greater than any determination he had ever seen before.

Moreover, Kashima's aura became incredibly powerful, as if he hadn't lost all his power after the level 18 assessment disappeared, but rather had reached a limit he couldn't reach before and was about to step into a higher realm.

It gripped the divine sword Futsu-no-Mitama in one hand and slashed down in his direction, with dazzling purple-white lightning flowing across the blade.

These violent and powerful, shimmering electric currents, like writhing dragons and snakes, surged straight into the mountains and sky, as if tearing the earth and the heavens apart and destroying them completely.

"This is the Thunderous Blade."

"I, Kashima, bear the regrets of my mentor and dearest friend, yet have failed to live up to their wishes. I am a useless, talentless, and incompetent demon!"

Chapter 620 Sword Girl, Sanriyue

Thunder roared in the sky.

Streaks of purple-white lightning, winding like dragons soaring through the sky, exploded in the heavens, almost illuminating the dark clouds above and dyeing them purple-white, exceptionally beautiful, yet with an indescribable sense of terrifying oppression.

Looking at everything before him, Morikawa Yu's heart was filled with excitement.

The power generated by this strike was simply too great.

He originally thought that after becoming a sword saint, his swordsmanship had reached its end, and he could only wait to reach the maximum level, reach his own limit, and then challenge the path to advancement.

Unexpectedly, the Sword Saint is not the ultimate goal of swordsmanship; there seems to be an even more powerful realm above the Sword Saint.

Kashima's strike definitely exceeded the limits of a sword saint.

The question is, how did it do that? Although its swordsmanship was strong before, it was only similar to his. It was only because of its own demonic power that its swordsmanship appeared so powerful.

However, it now seems to have surpassed the limits of demonic power and swordsmanship, reaching an even higher realm.

Just as the power of the Supreme God and the Divine Demon exceeded the system's level assessment, Kashima now seems to have also exceeded the level assessment, becoming like the Shrine Maidens.

Could it be because of the illusory image of the white-haired girl from earlier?

Morikawa Yu felt that the white-haired girl phantom she obtained was the former sword saint Urabe Asataka from four hundred years ago, as Kashima had mentioned. After all, her appearance was the same as Kashima's description, and she also had the phantom of the divine sword Futsu-no-Mitama at her waist.

But didn't she die long ago?

How could he possibly appear by Kashima's side now and help Kashima break through to a higher level?

Morikawa Yu frowned.

Could she be a manifestation of Kashima's inner resolve? He had previously seen Tamamo's consciousness illusion beside the Great Fox, and the two seemed very similar.

The only difference is that Tamamo is the Great Fox's former lover, and the Sword Saint Urabe Asataka is Kashima's mentor.

Morikawa Yu couldn't help but feel a little suspicious.

Moreover, Morikawa Yu was actually somewhat doubtful about whether he could withstand the blow.

But he wasn't afraid.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have waited for Kashima to make that strike.

While Kashima was deep in thought, he could have interrupted Kashima's build-up momentum and prevented him from unleashing that strike.

But he didn't make a move. Instead, he waited for Kashima to gather his strength and then watched as Kashima completed the strike.

He admired Kashima, the swordsman god.

Perhaps Hanamiyuki, the Shrine Maiden, and the Princess Shrine Maiden are enemies, hiding many things from him and Hiizuki, but Kashima openly confessed her past to him without reservation. Her bold and straightforward personality made him admire her greatly.

He also wanted to see the power of this strike, to see if Kashima, the sword demon, could fulfill his and Urabe Asataka's wishes and unleash the strongest strike.

However, he now realizes he may have overestimated himself.

He probably couldn't withstand that blow from Kashima.

While it's not impossible for him to catch it, the possibility of him failing is very high.

This strike clearly surpasses the realm of sword saints and demon gods, reaching a higher level, making it difficult for him to block unless he actively dodges it.

But he felt it was difficult to dodge.

He's too close to Kashima.

The distance between the two might seem very far to ordinary people, but for experts of their level, it was only a matter of moments, leaving them no way to dodge.

Even if he uses Flash, it won't be easy for him to dodge.

Judging from the power brewing in this strike, the destructive range must be huge; even a flash might not be enough to dodge it.

If he were to enter the Goshuincho space to hide, the spatial markers he left behind would most likely be destroyed by Kashima's strike.

Not to mention that Rabbit Girl and Asaka are still fighting Hanami Yuki. If he had dodged to the side, Kashima's slash would probably have been aimed at Rabbit Girl and Asaka.

He didn't want them to be in danger.

Morikawa Yu pondered, devising a plan to withstand Kashima's attack.

Suddenly, he felt his beloved knife tremble slightly in his hand.

The blade of Mikazuki trembled slightly, emitting a clear ringing sound.

crescent moon?