Chapter 147: Found You?
The driver was stunned.
"What happened? Is it because I wasn't driving smoothly enough and you got carsick?"
"After all, I saw you close your eyes the moment you got in the car, so you must be feeling uncomfortable. It's fine—I have some motion-sickness medicine!"
"No need."
Ren waved his hand.
"I think we're almost there. I'll switch to another form of transportation later. I'd like to walk for a while."
The driver refused.
"How could I? Our job is to get every passenger to their destination..."
"I'll pay you."
"Okay."
The driver immediately drove away without even looking back, as though he were afraid Ren might change his mind.
He even took a shortcut on the way out...
Ren raised his head and gazed at the hazy moonlight before slowly closing his eyes.
The last time he'd looked at the moon, he had been with Kanao.
But this time, he was alone.
It seemed Uzui Tengen had been right.
In the end, people really did feel lonely.
Fortunately, after crossing into this world, Ren had encountered a group of lovely people at the Butterfly Mansion.
That was why he treasured those relationships so much.
He had to go back.
[Transparent World activated!]
You close your eyes, activate your superhuman hearing, and utilize your skill!
Can you hear the laughter of the children in the red-light district?
[Can you hear the seductive singing of the courtesans at the Kyogoku House?]
You feel that the range is still insufficient, so you expand your perception!
Your hearing has improved!
Can you hear the sound of water freezing into ice?
Ren opened his eyes and tightly gripped the backpack on his back.
Oxygen began circulating rapidly through his lungs.
The young man whispered,
"Dragon Breathing..."
A full moon hung high in the sky.
At the edge of the red-light district, Douma wandered aimlessly.
He had been waiting here from the very beginning.
Originally, Douma had planned to wait for Daki and Hantengu to complete their mission so that he could slack off afterward.
But things hadn't gone as planned.
He had lost two more subordinates.
Now, the only subordinate remaining under Douma was Akaza.
Douma expressed his profound grief.
After losing friends one after another, he decisively chose to give up.
Douma wandered around, playing with ice and admiring the moonlight, when he suddenly heard the roar of an automobile.
"Oh~ Looks like the prey has arrived."
Douma smiled and walked toward the source of the sound.
As he drew closer, the roar of the automobile suddenly stopped.
"Oh? Did he notice me?"
Douma smiled faintly.
"But that's fine. If he can sense my presence, then he must be exceptionally delicious. I'm looking forward to it."
Ren suddenly opened his eyes.
In the blink of an eye, he drew his Nichirin Sword.
Flames surged upward, illuminating a patch of shadow within the forest.
Under the moonlight, Ren had already entered the forest.
Once he crossed this forest, he would be able to catch a train home.
But Ren knew things wouldn't go that smoothly.
The next moment, a cold aura grew increasingly intense.
[Transparent World activated!]
[A transparent world unfolds before your eyes!]
[Through the darkness, you see a fan. You see a human figure.]
[Your breathing has been disrupted. Transparent World terminated...]
Ren sucked in a breath.
The color seemed to drain completely from his face.
"Is this a Blood Demon Art?"
Ren felt as though something had been inhaled into his lungs.
His movements began to become sluggish.
Ren's pupils suddenly contracted.
"What a terrifying Blood Demon Art."
At such a distance, Ren was almost certain that the opponent hadn't discovered him yet.
Moreover, this Blood Demon Art wasn't specifically targeting him.
It was a domain-level ability possessed by his opponent.
It attacked the surrounding area, releasing something resembling an icy mist. Anyone who approached would damage their lungs simply by breathing.
The damage to Ren's lungs was the best proof.
He knew who his opponent was.
A demon Ren hated with all his heart.
A demon who was hypocritical to the extreme.
A demon who preyed upon the weak.
Douma.
The surroundings fell completely silent.
Silence spread like a tide, and the atmosphere seemed to freeze solid.
The young man turned his head.
Through a narrow path, he could still faintly see the lights in the distance.
They were the brightest lights in the darkness.
Behind him was a bustling street.
Vehicles came and went in the distance.
Children ran back and forth.
People pushed food carts onto the streets to do business, selling the warmth and beauty of this world.
But before him was one of the most evil things in existence.
Blood Demon Art: Lotus Vines of Frost.
This was one of Douma's techniques.
It created countless lotus leaves that scattered ice crystals throughout the air.
As long as an enemy inhaled the substance, their lungs would be corroded.
Douma usually used this technique to weaken his opponents.
Ren had already become its victim.
Lung damage was the natural enemy of anyone who used Breathing Techniques.
Once the lungs were injured, a Demon Slayer swordsman could no longer use any Breathing Technique.
Ren really wanted to know how Shinobu had endured this.
In the original Infinity Castle storyline, Douma had damaged Shinobu's lungs.
Even with her lungs riddled with wounds, Shinobu still managed to stand.
Ren couldn't understand how an eighteen-year-old girl had managed to do it.
He could even imagine the pain Shinobu had endured at that time.
And finally, he understood the hatred she held toward Douma.
Sometimes, Ren couldn't help lamenting the fragility of humanity.
Even a minor injury could take a human a long time to recover from.
Demons, however, didn't have that problem.
Even if their limbs were severed, they not only felt little pain—they could regrow them in an instant.
A battle between humans and demons was fundamentally unfair.
And as humans aged, they grew old.
Their physical strength declined, and their bodily functions deteriorated dramatically.
Demons did not.
They did not age or become weaker with the passage of time.
Instead, they became even more resilient.
Humans were fragile before demons.
But Ren also admired the greatness of humanity.
Precisely because life was finite, humanity possessed something called a legacy.
Life was precious because it was limited.
And that weight was precisely the only sharp blade capable of severing the necks of evil demons.
[Beginning physical recovery using Hundred Refined Omnipotence!]
You briefly hold your breath, then begin running.
You are performing high-intensity anaerobic exercise!
"...Blood Demon Art: Freezing Clouds."
This Blood Demon Art was an area-of-effect attack capable of spreading mist-like ice crystals.
If an enemy didn't retreat, they could easily inhale the ice crystals into their lungs.
Furthermore, this Blood Demon Art also possessed a certain restraining effect, reducing the enemy's speed.
Douma waved his iron fan and released a cloud of icy mist.
In an instant, the forest entered a Cambrian world.
"Looks like I've found you."
Douma blinked, the corners of his lips curling upward in a smile.
Only then did he realize that part of his Blood Demon Art had been absorbed!
His rainbow-colored pupils glowed with dangerous light.
The iron fan in Douma's hand suddenly snapped open.
"I found you!"