The enormous Lotus Bodhisattva relentlessly slammed down its mountain-sized hands.
Billowing frigid mist froze everything in its path—even the very air seemed to solidify, forming clusters of razor-sharp icicles that rained down like a storm.
One blue, one red—two figures darted about like dragons, nimbly dodging every attack, searching for an opening.
"Separation Breathing, Fifth Form: Gale Thunder Burst!"
"Wind Style: Giant Sickle Weasel Technique!"
The rampaging plasma blades instantly cleared a swath of icy mist and icicles, while the massive wind blade that followed sliced through the upraised hand of the ice statue.
This created an opening for Yoriichi-1 to face Doma directly.
"Bang!"
Another gunshot rang out, striking Doma's neck and blasting two holes in it, which quickly healed over.
Even with bullets made from Scarlet Ore, conventional firearms could barely threaten the upper-ranked demons.
In the original timeline, Sanemi's brother Genya was able to restrain Upper Four's clones with his shotgun, but against Kokushibo, he had to rely on his own demon-eater abilities—infusing his gun with the power of the Hantengu flesh he'd consumed—to temporarily pin Kokushibo down while the three Hashira attacked together.
Hardy's standard-issue gun, and the gun barrel built into Yoriichi-1's left arm, could only serve as a feint against Doma, setting up the real killing blow.
Just like now.
"Separation Breathing, First Form: Ion Slash."
Like a rising blue sun, Hardy's figure suddenly appeared atop the Lotus Bodhisattva, slashing at Doma's head from behind.
The Nichirin Blade bit a third of the way into Doma's neck, but was stopped by bone. In that instant, Doma struck the blade with a golden iron fan, adding resistance to Hardy's swing. With his left hand, he swept his fan, sending a flurry of icy petals toward Hardy.
Almost as if he'd predicted it, Hardy stomped down, shattering the ice beneath his feet, withdrew his blade, and once again swung in front of him, unleashing a spinning—
Switching to slashing attacks, he shattered all the icy crystal petals, then executed a graceful backflip to dodge the ice pillars that followed close behind. Channeling chakra to his feet, he leapt several times atop the Lotus Bodhisattva, finally landing beside Yuan Yi First Form.
Although he had missed the opportunity to kill Doma in this hard-won moment, there was a hint of joy on Hardy's face.
Just in that instant, it was as if a layer of glass had been pierced through—his entire world seemed to change before his eyes.
Everything, from the tiniest detail of the Lotus Bodhisattva's movements to the condensation of a single drop of ice crystal, appeared in his mind with perfect clarity, as if rendered in three-dimensional modeling.
It was almost identical to the "spiritual sense" described in those xianxia novels.
With a single sweep, he could perceive everything around him in a full 360 degrees.
The Transparent World—under the pressure of Upper Moon Two—had finally awakened.
Even though it came at the cost of Hardy suffering considerable injuries.
He could feel the wounds on his body sliced open by ice, and the surface tissue that had been frozen dead. Closing his eyes, Hardy precisely controlled his and Yuan Yi First Form's movements, dodging every attack.
He was adapting to the changes brought by the Transparent World.
"Hm?"
Doma waved his fan, conjuring a sky full of freezing clouds, but sensed something was off.
His opponent seemed to have changed, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what had changed.
This feeling—where nothing was seen by the eye, yet everything seemed to be laid bare…
Doma's rainbow-colored pupils flickered slightly.
This sensation—he'd felt it before, every time he stood before Kokushibo!
"This blade is too dull. I need to switch, or else it'll get stuck halfway through again, just like last time."
Hardy, sensing every detail of the Nichirin blade in his hand, made his judgment.
This Nichirin blade had slain over thirty demons, including a Lower Moon Three, and had also endured countless sparring matches with pillars like Uzui Tengen.
To have lasted this long already spoke volumes about the quality of this weapon, forged by Teketsumori Kanzo.
But now, though it looked mostly intact on the surface, with only a few chips on the edge, through the Transparent World, Hardy could see the fine cracks running through the blade's core.
No one knew if the next swing would snap the blade.
This Nichirin blade had reached its limit.
Fortunately, there was more than one Nichirin blade here.
The one in Yuan Yi First Form's hand was a shadow-forged blade of the very same type as Hardy's current sword, also crafted by Teketsumori Kanzo.
Some swordsmiths, when forging weapons, would make several at once using the same process and materials, then select the best as the "true blade," while the others would be "shadow blades."
In other words, this sword's forging process and materials were almost identical to the one Hardy was using. The handling would feel nearly the same, requiring no adaptation—he could wield it perfectly from the start.
Amidst the endless ice pillars and the Lotus Bodhisattva's hand strikes, Hardy effortlessly swapped Nichirin blades with Yuan Yi First Form.
"It's time to end this battle."
Hardy turned slightly, gripping the Nichirin blade tightly.
With the Transparent World combined with the Mind's Eye technique, Hardy could precisely control most of the muscles in his arm, keeping the force within his limits.
Veins bulged, and tiny blue arcs of electricity danced across Hardy's right hand.
This was a certain nature transformation of Lightning Release chakra—using Lightning Release to simulate bioelectric stimulation, activating cells, enhancing speed and explosive power. Whether it was Lightning Release Chakra Mode or Chidori, all used this technique; the only difference was the intensity of activation.
Now, Hardy could do the same, and with his high level of chakra control and the Transparent World, the degree of activation was certainly not low.
"Whoosh!"
In the blink of an eye, Hardy's figure vanished from Doma's sight.
In the next instant, a streak of blue lightning flashed across the icy lotus beneath the Lotus Bodhisattva, slicing its lower half diagonally as if a hot knife through butter.
Then came the second slash, the third…
Moments later, the massive ice sculpture of the Bodhisattva shattered into a flurry of icy fragments, accompanied by rising clouds of steam.
Doma flipped and landed on the ground, gripping his twin metal fans, looking ahead.
Hardy, holding a crimson long blade in one hand, walked toward him at a pace that was both fast and slow.
With most of the muscles in his arm activated and stimulated by Lightning Release chakra, Hardy now had the strength to forcibly unlock the Crimson Blade with his grip alone.
...
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