Clang—
The clash of metal rang out, sparking deadly light.
At the critical moment, Gyutaro swung his blood scythe, blocking Gusion's strike.
He had underestimated Gusion's speed, which made his defense so ragged, but he still managed to block the blow.
But this didn't put his mind at ease—instead, his eyes widened in alarm. Gusion's strike, powered by astonishing speed, carried overwhelming force that Gyutaro couldn't resist.
If Gusion's attack had come head-on, Gyutaro could have blocked it, but now, with one hand on his scythe, defending from the side, he couldn't exert his full strength. So, to his shock and anger, Gusion's blade nearly pressed down his arm and scythe, pushing onward. It was not just brute force but a display of extreme skill, channeling flowing power at breakneck speed toward his enemy.
While a few other explorers looked on in shock, and Gyutaro stared, Gusion's blade, still dragging Gyutaro's scythe, swept across Daki's slender neck. Her beautiful face still wore a look of surprise as her head fell from the sky.
"Imouto!"
Gyutaro screamed but didn't panic—instead, he counterattacked, swinging his other blood scythe at Gusion's chest.
His scythe was poisonous—if the poison from his Blood Demon Art entered Gusion, it would mean death.
Just as Gyutaro thought his attack would land, Gusion's elbow came down, slamming the flat of the scythe and knocking it downward.
Immediately after, LGusion's blade reversed, chopping toward Gyutaro's neck.
Gyutaro quickly withdrew, activating Blood Demon Art: Circular Slashing Flight Scythe, wrapping spiral blood attacks around his arm and weapon to guard his vital points.
Gusion's blade first sliced through the spiral blood web created by Gyutaro's Blood Demon Art, then struck Gyutaro's blood scythe. As the blade slid across, a piercing screech sounded, and sparks burst like a shower of iron flowers.
Boom—
With Thunder Breathing and his "Brute" title, Gusison gained the advantage in strength, knocking Gyutaro flying. Gyutaro crashed through three houses before coming to a stop.
As Gusion stood, a spinning bullet zipped past, grazing his hair.
At the same time, a figure burst from the side—it was Moose, the assassin in the explorer team, his dagger stabbing at Gusion's back, eyes gleaming with joy.
He judged that, after dodging the sniper's shot, Gusion couldn't possibly avoid his heart-stabbing thrust at this distance and angle. Even if he couldn't pierce Gusion's heart, his dagger was coated with deadly poison—just breaking the skin would be enough.
Clang—
To Moose's shock, his dagger made a metallic sound upon stabbing Gusion, and the initial feeling was already wrong.
When it touched Gusion's loose black cloak, it was like stabbing into a swamp—its strange flexibility dampened the force. Piercing the clothing and stabbing Gusion's body, it sounded like metal striking metal.
"Moose!"
The white-clad swordsman yelled, but it was too late.
Gusion's elbow struck backward, hitting Moose's chest and throwing him off balance. Instantly, Gusion spun and decapitated Moose.
Moose died without understanding why, as a skilled assassin, his full-force strike couldn't even scratch Gusion.
"Die!"
Without a moment's grief for his comrade, the adventurer team's leader—the white-clad swordsman known as Brother Dragon—charged at Gusion.
Taking advantage of Gusion's turn, he judged that Gusion's blade was too slow to return and block. Like a heavenly swordsman descending, he thrust his sword at Gusion's neck, aiming to pierce his throat from the side.
But Gusion's next move shocked him: Gusion stretched out his left hand, palm facing the incoming sword!
Was this powerful man insane? That was a purple-quality treasured sword, exceptionally sharp. Did he think he could stop it with his bare hand?
As Brother Dragon believed they were about to defeat their foe, something astonishing happened.
Crack—
With a metallic shatter, the purple-quality sword he'd just bought in his last world broke, inch by inch from the tip as soon as it contacted Gusion's palm.
When the force was spent, the hilt struck Gusion's palm.
He stared in disbelief as if witnessing the world's most absurd event. Gusion's hand closed around his, the demon smile on Gusion's face revealing the true reason he dared to face them alone and without fear of traps.
They were never the hunters—just a pack of hounds that had stumbled into the tiger's den.
Gusion grabbed the swordsman's hand, grinned, and with a sweeping upward slash, cut him in two.
"Leader!"
"Brother Dragon!"
"Leader!"
Three teammates cried, but too late. In their despairing gaze, Gusion's blade swung again, decapitating them in mid-air.
Gusion watched the swordsman's corpse roll off the ruins and flicked the blood from his blade. "Upper Moon, is that all?"
"You monster!"
With a roar, the main tank called Steel Plate charged at Gusion with a tower shield, while the two remaining explorers attacked as well.
All of them had survived many worlds in the End Space, clearly seeing the situation: now they'd obtained Muzan's demon bloodline, and it was daytime—there was nowhere to run.
If they fled, the enemy would hunt them down one by one. Their only chance was to fight desperately.
Facing Steel Plate's charge, Gusion leaped back, dodging the sniper's bullet. His jump covered seven or eight meters, landing on a house wall across the street.
The burly Steel Plate charged with his tower shield like a raging bull, aware that as the team's main tank, with their berserker, assassin, and swordsman all dead, he had to hold the front or Gusion would kill their mage.
Gusion, feet on the wall, gathered strength, thunder crackling around him. The next instant, amid thunder, the wall exploded behind him, wood chips scattering.
Gusion charged at high speed, not swinging at the shield, but kicking it.
Crack—the tower shield first cracked, then shattered completely under the immense force.
Steel Plate, coughing blood, was sent flying. He felt as if he'd crashed into a train mid-charge.
"Blood Demon Art: Crimson Smoke Spirit Fire!"
From the side, the mage girl's shout sent a two-meter-wide pillar of fire at Gusion, forcing him to abandon chasing Steel Plate. With a combination of Shunpo and Thunder Breathing, he moved so fast only afterimages remained, vanishing from his spot.
In the blink of an eye, from beheading Daki to killing two explorers, only a few seconds had passed.
As Gusion reappeared on the street, Gyutaro burst from a ruined house.
He looked utterly crazed, blood blades swirling around him, his blood scythe swollen, slashing at Gusion with deadly intent.
Gusion calmly blocked with his Zanpakuto, sliding backward from the force.
After one strike, Gyutaro didn't pursue, but instead yelled angrily and fearfully, "What did you do to my sister!?"