The dark mountain forest gradually faded away, replaced by an even gloomier and more decayed environment.
Flickering lights swayed amidst the trees, blooming with a chilling glow like flowers.
These flames carried no warmth—only an eerie coldness.
"ROAR—!"
A mournful roar echoed through the night, reverberating across the entire mountain forest.
That roar carried a multitude of emotions—
Pain, sorrow, suppression, madness... and bestiality.
Just this single roar was enough to send chills down one's spine, let alone facing it in battle.
The already pitch-black night seemed to be swallowed by something even darker.
Amid the forest, heavy panting accompanied by the scent of blood drew closer.
It was as if a wounded beast lurked in the shadows, licking its wounds while eyeing the only living being in the woods—Bai Luo.
"You've got to be kidding me..."
Bai Luo had assumed his opponent would be the Maguu Kenki, given that his current location resembled the Maguu Kenki's original spot near the Serpent's Head.
But this overwhelming presence reminded him of someone else.
Someone who might also appear in the memories of Mikoshi Michihiro—or rather, the Maguu Kenki.
The deep, abyssal darkness nearly suffocated the ghostly flames in the forest, and this sludge-like blackness made Bai Luo's mind waver.
He felt... like he'd seen this before.
"Creeeak—"
Whether by coincidence or not, just as Bai Luo tried recalling the origin of this black sludge, the monster lurking in the woods finally revealed itself.
A slender hand, wreathed in black mist, gripped the trunk of a withered tree.
Though the hand was far smaller than the trunk, its nails sank effortlessly into the bark.
Leaning against the tree, the figure emerged—frail in appearance yet radiating an increasingly violent aura.
What was once a beautiful face was now completely twisted by madness.
One of the horns on her head had been severed for unknown reasons.
Her right arm, which once wielded a blade, was gone, replaced by a slow drip of blood tainted by an abyssal darkness.
In Bai Luo's memory, she was just like any other girl—fond of pink and red.
But her junihitoe, once adorned in those colors, was now entirely swallowed by black.
"Chiyo the Tiger-Bite..."
Oni Chiyo
Watching the monster emerge from the forest, Bai Luo felt his scalp tingle.
That's right—the creature stepping out of the woods was none other than Mikoshi Michihiro's mother, Mikoshi Chiyo.
She was once a beloved general under the Shogun's command, her lifelong wish being to overcome the fate of life and death with boiling blood, carving an immortal legacy for her dwindling kin under the name of the "Oni of War."
When facing the Abyssal Army alongside the Raiden Shogun, she was once swallowed whole by an otherworldly beast with a tiger's body and serpent's tail.
Yet she tore through the monster's chest and survived—earning her the name Chiyo the Tiger-Bite, later shortened to Tiger Chiyo.
But the abyssal darkness was inherently invasive. Once tainted, how could she escape so easily?
Bloodstained robes could be washed clean, but a heart devoured by darkness beat more fiercely than ever.
One day, she bared her fangs at the Shogun—the very one who had gifted her a treasured blade and treated her as family—fully transforming into an Oni.
In that battle, the Shogun's naginata was shattered between her fangs, but her sword-wielding arm and one of her horns were severed.
In the end, like a wounded beast, she fled into the wilderness, vanishing without a trace.
And now...
Bai Luo encountered her in this trial.
Which meant... there might still be fragments of Engulfing Lightning embedded in her teeth.
If I pulled them out, could they be used as refinement materials for the weapon?
"ROAR—!"
As the saying goes, dragons summon clouds, tigers summon winds.
When Tiger Chiyo lunged, it truly felt like a ferocious tiger descending the mountain.
The bloody gale she brought with her was so suffocating that Bai Luo nearly choked.
Fortunately, the trial hadn't officially begun yet, so Tiger Chiyo could only rage impotently against the invisible barrier separating them.
[Begin the challenge?]
Perhaps because Tiger Chiyo had lost all reason, the system asked on her behalf this time.
"Hold on, let me think about which job to use."
[Hei and Battousai have been disabled. Please switch to Black Swordsman immediately.]
"..."
Damn, they definitely just added this rule on the spot.
This system was getting less reliable by the minute.
The red ronin attire gradually darkened into black, and the cat-faced mask vanished.
Perhaps due to the job's traits, Bai Luo's originally college-student-like face took on a more youthful appearance—almost baby-faced.
Taking a deep breath as he watched Tiger Chiyo claw at the barrier, Bai Luo steeled himself.
"Let's begin!"
The moment the barrier disappeared, four sword phantoms shot out, and Bai Luo vanished—reappearing beside the leftmost phantom.
As for Tiger Chiyo...
Her gaping maw snapped shut on empty air, the sound of gnashing teeth making Bai Luo's own jaw ache.
Truthfully, this version of Tiger Chiyo had been heavily weakened.
Her greatest weapon should have been the sword.
Folktales spoke of her unparalleled swordsmanship—how she once danced amidst a thousand blades, her junihitoe tattered like violets in the wind, yet her body untouched.
Even the Kitsune Saiguu once praised her sword dances.
But to subdue her, the Raiden Shogun severed her sword-wielding right arm.
Now, her only means of attack were the claws of her left hand and those razor-sharp fangs.
Though Tiger Chiyo had lost her sanity, the innate talents of the oni and her combat instincts remained.
After a brief assessment, she identified the real Bai Luo among the sword phantoms.
Her face contorted further, a bloody glint flashing in her eyes.
With a single step, she shattered the rocky ground, creating a sonic boom as she lunged, her oni claws slashing toward Bai Luo.
Had she been in her right mind, this strike wouldn't have been so devastating.
Humans cherish life—and oni are no different.
But when life is disregarded, an oni's claws become everyone's nightmare.
Bai Luo, wielding the newly acquired Elucidator, didn't dodge. Instead, he met her claws head-on.
"Sonic Leap!"
"CLANG—!"
The collision of blade and claw produced a metallic ring, sparks flaring brightly enough to momentarily illuminate the surrounding darkness.
In her frenzied state, Tiger Chiyo had no capacity to question how this strange one-handed sword could withstand an oni's claws.
The last shreds of her reason only allowed for a fleeting look of confusion.
How did he pass through?
Behind her, Bai Luo had already teleported to another sword phantom the moment Sonic Leap ended.
"Damn bug!"
That's right—Sonic Leap, which was supposed to have knockback properties, once again showcased its glitchy nature.
It had somehow turned into Sonic Dash.
Thankfully, he'd used the move more to evade Tiger Chiyo's attack than to deal damage.
So the impact was minimal.
But facing the deranged Tiger Chiyo, Bai Luo grew even more cautious.