DS Chapter 104: I Hate This Amber Sky!
Sekido was the first to react. He immediately raised the tin staff in his hand.
But just as the lightning was about to descend, something strange happened.
Mist began gathering in the air once again.
The hurried sound of footsteps seemed to come from within the fog, growing closer and closer.
Then—
With a soft footstep, countless afterimages suddenly flashed through the surroundings!
"Insect Breathing, Centipede Dance: Hundred-Legged Serpent Belly!"
"Dragon Breathing, Fourth Form: Divine Dragon Tail Dance!"
Whoosh!
A figure flashed through the darkness.
With a single strike, he severed Sekido's neck.
Under the moonlight, the boy's lungs rapidly expanded. His gloomy eyes remained fixed on one direction.
"Wind Breathing, First Form: Dust Whirlwind Cutter!"
"Flame Breathing, Third Form: Blazing Universe!"
"Dragon Breathing, Third Form: One Thought, Blossoming Flowers!"
Katsuragi Ren moved with swift, decisive precision, unleashing three different Breathing Techniques in succession!
The speed of the wind.
The intensity of fire.
And the roar of a dragon.
Time itself seemed to freeze.
A black-glowing Nichirin Sword cleaved through the world. Flames erupted as it tore through the air, and the heat distorted the surroundings, suddenly illuminating the night sky.
Under the moonlight, the boy's body moved like a dragon dancing through the heavens.
The raging wind became his wings.
The flames became his eyes.
At this moment, the roar of the dragon fully revealed its fury!
Boom!
Wind and fire converged.
For an instant, the demons could even feel the Nichirin Sword trembling faintly in Ren's hand. They could clearly see the boy's expression, as terrifying as an Asura's.
Then the blade pierced through necks and hearts before passing straight through, leaving behind elegant, clean trails of blood.
A figure flashed past the four demons at incredible speed.
The ultimate technique known as One Thought, Blossoming Flowers severed all four of their necks within a single second before Ren finally came to a stop.
The next moment, the heads of the demons representing joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure fell like ripe pomegranates.
Ren quietly walked over to Kanao.
He reached out.
Crack!
With his bare hand, he crushed Urogi's spear.
Then he lifted Kanao into his arms and placed one hand against her waist, searching for the wound.
A moment later, Ren let out a quiet breath of relief.
Fortunately, her breathing wasn't too irregular.
Only then did the tension in his heart finally ease slightly.
"Ren... I'm sorry. I... only held you back..."
Kanao struggled to open her eyes. Her face was filled with guilt, and those bright, expressive eyes of hers were always painfully heartbreaking to look at.
"Don't say that. You need to rest."
Ren spoke softly before using his massage technique to help Kanao fall into a deep sleep.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! You Demon Slayer! That hurt! Why did you cut me like that?!"
Hearing the complaint, Ren slowly turned his head.
Behind him, the four emotion demons were desperately trying to reconnect their severed heads, complaining about how hard Ren had struck them while simultaneously displaying their horrifying regenerative abilities.
Gyokko had wisely hidden himself as well.
Ren's flaming blade had just cut him in half at the neck. He had nearly been sent straight to the afterlife.
So this time, Gyokko had become smarter.
He had hidden inside his pot and left Hantengu to fight first.
After all, he was an intelligence officer. There was nothing wrong with occasionally refusing to personally fight, right?
Under the dark moonlight and howling wind, Ren stood alone against the demons.
Behind him were the houses illuminated by flickering candlelight.
Behind the demons was a sinister, terrifying forest.
It was as if the world had been divided in two.
Light and darkness.
Humanity and demons.
Two completely separate sides.
Ren's expression was cold, and the Nichirin Sword in his hand was scorching hot.
At the same time, his old injuries had begun acting up again. On top of that, he had forcibly broken through Gyokko's Blood Demon Art earlier.
His body was now extremely weak.
Ren was already approaching his limit.
Almost all of his remaining combat strength had been exhausted.
He swept his gaze across the surroundings.
Fortunately, he couldn't see Murata or the others.
The girls from the Butterfly Mansion must have taken them somewhere safe.
That meant Ren had only one task left.
Ensure that the Butterfly Mansion remained standing, completely intact, until dawn.
The next few minutes might very well contain his final attacks.
Ren closed his eyes.
Two trails of blood slowly trickled from the corners of his eyes.
Bullet Domain activated!
Super Memory State activated!
"Beast Breathing, Seventh Form: Spatial Awareness!"
The world around him seemed to slow down.
The boy's gaze became as sharp as an eagle's.
A scorching red glow erupted from the tip of his blade, flames bursting forth as his lungs expanded beyond their previous limits.
You are sensing...
You are sensing...
Your brain is under excessive strain. Your body is issuing a warning. You may need to stop your current actions!
[You are overloaded. Your sensory organs have begun bleeding. After five minutes of using Bullet Domain, your blood vessels will rupture!]
[Combat power increased!]
[Perception increased!]
[Reaction time increased!]
You are charging!
Under the moonlight, deep within the forest of the courtyard—
"What was that sound, Sekido? I have a bad feeling about this."
Karaku bared his fangs.
Relying on his combat instincts, he immediately flew into the sky.
But the moment he flapped his wings, an aura faster than his own speed instantly locked onto him!
"Total Concentration!"
A surge of heat rushed into Ren's chest as his breath escaped between his lips and teeth.
Under the moonlight, the boy's eyes locked firmly onto the four emotion demons.
His mind accelerated.
In an instant, a perfect path for decapitating all of them appeared clearly within his mind.
Boom!
"Dragon Breathing, First Form: Dragon Soaring Through the Heavens!"
Ren pushed off the ground with everything he had.
With incredible speed, he reached Karaku first!
Slash!
Ren effortlessly severed Karaku's neck.
He swung his blade horizontally and used Karaku's body as a foothold, launching himself straight back toward the ground.
The boy's smooth figure swept past each of the emotion demons in succession.
A winding, twisting fire dragon danced vividly around him!
"Dragon Breathing, Sixth Form: Winding Tongue of Flame!"
Hiss!
The heads of joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure all fell simultaneously!
But Ren didn't stop.
Using his Spatial Awareness, he had already sensed the location of the main body.
"Wind Breathing, First Form: Dust Whirlwind Cutter!"
Ren started running again.
His footsteps were so hurried that he barely had time to breathe.
The air remaining in his lungs was no longer enough to support another Dragon Breathing technique.
This Wind Breathing technique was his best chance to sever the main body's neck!
A fierce wind howled through the chaotic trees of the courtyard.
The boy's figure moved like the wind.
Soon, a small figure appeared before him.
There!
Ren tightened his grip around the sword hilt, every muscle in his body tensing.
But at that moment—
"Blood Demon Art: Thousand-Fish Kill!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
At the critical moment, Gyokko suddenly emerged from the trunk of a tree outside the courtyard.
He unleashed a barrage of long-range attacks toward the rapidly advancing Ren!
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Ren could barely defend himself.
He could only use his swordsmanship to block Gyokko's attacks.
But—
Who said swordsmanship had to be performed with a Nichirin Sword?